Amphion

• Amphion, another 20th century American verse form invented as a teaching tool. It alternates tetrameter lines with dimeter lines, created byViola Berg.

The Amphion is:
○ a 10 line poem.
○ metered, tetrameter lines alternate with sets of rhymed dimeter couplets.
○ Rhymed, rhyme scheme  abbaccdeed.

Super Bowl Sunday by Judi Van Gorder

A day of football at its end,
the bowls of chips
and gooey dips.
Emotions now are on the mend
the ups and downs
the fan base clowns.
The black and gold have got the win,
the players crow,
the losers go
their loss is carried on the chin.

Pasted from

A great thanks to Judi Van Gorder for making PMO a premier resource.



Example Poem

Bar Bully Ballet (Amphion)

He sits there staring at his drink.
his life is bad
and he's so sad
A bully entered-- what'd ya think?
He grabbed the glass
He's such an ass--
The sad guy cries he is so blue.
"Damn all's gone wrong,
"Twas my swan song--
Then this ass drank my poisoned brew! "

© Lawrencealot -November 26,2013


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Abhanga

Abhanga

There are not many verse forms whose names begin with the letter A.  The abhanga is a Marathi form, Marathi being one of the major languages of India. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and is also spoken in several neighbouring states in the west of the country, including Goa and Karnataka. 

The form is simply described: four lines, with syllable counts of 6, 6, 6, 4, and lines 2 and 3 rhyming.

Pasted from <http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/abhanga.htm> 

Thanks to Bob Newman for this wonderful resource.

Abhanga, "the completion" is a stanzaic form commonly used for devotional poetic composition although it has also been used for cynicism, satire and reflective moods. It was popular from the 13th thru 17th centuries Marathi Region of India and is described as complex and classic.

...

The Abhanga is:

• stanzaic, written in any number of 4 line stanzas.
• syllabic, 6-6-6-4 syllables each
• rhymed L2 and L3 rhyme. Often internal rhyme is employed. End rhyme scheme x a a x , x being unrhymed.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/1212-vi-marathi-region-the-abhanga/> 

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for this wonderful resource.

Example Poem

Nurturer     (Abhanga)        

When life it brought into         

our world with woman's pain         

before the child's refrain         

sends it away…         

the nurturing begins         

with boys and girls, and yes,         

with men we must confess.         

The woman builds.         

When this small fact is found         

to be untrue, then what?        

Then you've defined a slut,         

female, that's all.         

The care and love rendered         

describe a woman's ilk.         

Their touch is soft as silk         

but strong as glue.         

As aging wrinkles up         

my face, I'm satisfied         

a woman's by my side         

and she has cared.         

© Lawrencealot - November 26, 2013        

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A L'Arora

The A L'Arora, a form created by Laura Lamarca, consists of 8-lined stanzas. The rhyme scheme for this form is a, b, c, d, e, f, g, f with no syllable count per line. The minimum length for the poem is 4 stanzas with no maximum length stipulation. The A L'Arora is named after Laura Lamarca as "La" is her signature. "Aurora" is Italian and means "dawn" - "Arora" is derived from this. This form is dedicated to Chad Edwards.

Rhyme Scheme Re-Stated: xxxxxa xa, where "x" = no rhyme

Example:

To Eternity

She had harboured her conscience
as saddened seas set sail
and a hail of happiness
harpooned her harmed heart;
yet the start of her story
cast its line long ago...

when blame built a boat
to float to and fro.

She had waded through waters
towards distant dreams,
as sky's streams shone strong
for promise to grow,
and tide told of legends,
of pirates and gold...

of adventures and romance
and treasures to behold.

Soft breeze blew her homewards
towards challenge and smile,
over miles of surrender--
befriending love's sighs.
Undercurrents urged notions
to traverse oceans...and land

as anchors raised rainbows
and sorrows turned to sand.

She harnessed the beauty
that greeted her ashore,
as core swelled with longing
to sing songs...and survive.
And she lived with pride's palms
for forever and a day...

past's anchor has long rusted--
eroded echoes...stripped away.

Copyright © 2009 Laura Lamarca

Pasted from <http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/alarora.html> 

My Example Poem

Simple, Not Simplistic    (A L'Arora)

My mentor mentioned making my attempts

at penning poetry as speaking to a friend.

The grandiose perhaps will awe a few,

The academics, whose investment

in obcsure even

may seem propitious.

The common man will find

pretention not auspicious.

Your poems should be fun or run with one

to ideas delible in reader's mind

making them now indelible in his own

Arcadia.

Eschew condemnations, and benisons

but be exponent of provoking thought.

Let poetry maraud through newest  notions

and through concepts the Ancients may be taught.

Ignorance is pandemic

and helped along

by dogma,

the quintessential foe of reason.

If agencies are instru mental

in dumbing people down. . .

We poets and the world-wide net

is where new hope is found.

Confounding folks

won't do the trick

Didactic rants

shall also fail,

but creative and probing poems

when free of condescension,

may lead the Exodus from apathy

and get the world's attention.

(c) Lawrencealot - Nov 2013

I visual template is neither possible nor required.

choka

Choka

The most intricate Japanese Poetry form is the Choka, or Long Poem.

The early form consisted of a series of Katuata joined together. This gives a choice of form structures of ..... 5 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7.. etc, or .. 5 - 7 - 5 - 5 - 7 - 5.. etc.

The Choka could be any total line length and indeed many exceeded 100 lines.

Looking at this, it is easy to see why Poetic Historians believe the Katuata is the original basic unit of Japanese poetry using either the 17 or 19 unit onji.

 Pasted from <http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/Challenge/choka.html#choka>

Another interpretation -

Choka

Type:	Structure, Metrical Requirement, Simple
Description:	The choka is a Japanese form of unrhymed alternating five and seven syllable lines that ends with an extra seven syllable line. It can be any odd number of lines.
Origin:	Japanese
Schematic:	A nine-line choka would be: xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/41.shtml>

The choka (長歌 long poem) was the epic, story telling form of Japanese poetry from the 1st to the 13th century, known as the Waka period. Storytelling was rare in the Japanese language during the Waka period although it is found in the Man'yôshû and even the Kokinshú. Most often the Japanese poet would write epics in classical Chinese. Still, the occasional poet with a story to tell would tackle the choka, the earliest of which can be traced back to the 1st century. It describes a battle and is 149 lines long.

Originally chokas were sung, but not in the Western sense of being sung. The oral tradition of the choka was to recite the words in a high pitch.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/1140-choka/>

I always check this site for confirmation when cross-checking forms Judi Van Groder has done a remarkable job for PMO.

Choka

Type:	Structure, Metrical Requirement, Simple
Description:	The choka is a Japanese form of unrhymed alternating five and seven syllable lines that ends with an extra seven syllable line. It can be any odd number of lines.
Origin:	Japanese
Schematic:	A nine-line choka would be: xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/41.shtml>

Definition

The most intricate Japanese Poetry form is the Choka, or Long Poem. 

The early form consisted of a series of Katuata joined together. This gives a choice of form structures of ..... 5 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7.. etc, or .. 5 - 7 - 5 - 5 - 7 - 5.. etc.

Example

The Moth 

there is no freedom

escaping from my cocoon

I must seek you once again

I am drawn to you

like a moth to a candle

circling nearer and nearer

the deadly flame calls

now my wings are scorched

why must my nature be so?

Pasted from <http://www.poetrysoup.com/forms_of_poetry/C#Choka>

SO, Restated:

Origin:                          :  Japanese

The form is syllabic : 5/7/7/5/7/7   or  5/7/5/5/7/5

Traditional style       : Stanzas consisting of any number of the above structures (called Katuata)
 or  alternaively        : Alternating five and seven syllable lines that end with an extra 7 syllable line.

Unrhymed.

Meant for longer poems.

I have written a one using the Katuata style.

Poem Sample

Above the Sun  (choka) Katuata Version

setting out with you

in late summer's rising sun

hastens Honchu's heat

yet our packs hold coats

which hold nourishment for us

for cold nights ahead.

 many foreigners

pass and are passed as we climb

the holy mountain;

all are of like mind-

to climb to Mount Fuji's peak

for spiritual joy.

 We begin our last

ascent early in the night-

cold now,  velvet sky

dims, bows to morning;

we watch awed from above the

rising of the sun.

© Lawrencealot - November 23,2013

Visual Templates.

(with Thanks to Judi, I used her poem to depict the alternating line version)

Chandlerian

This form was invented in 2005 by B_Chandler on AP.

I found it on PoetryMagnusOpus listed as "Chandler's Sonnet, with the caveat that it 

• The Chandler Sonnet is an invented verse form introduced by B Chandler that although it is called a sonnet, has nothing in common with thesonnet form.
  The Chandler Sonnet is:
• a poem in 22 lines, written in 3 quatrains, an octave and a couplet in that order.
• syllabic, the first 3 quatrains are dodecasyllabic, the quatrain is hendecasyllabic and the couplet is heptasyllabic lines.
• rhymed, turned on only 4 rhymes, abab baba abab cdccdcdd ee.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2253>

My thanks to Judi Van Gorder of PMO, one of the hardest working site administrators on the web.  A wonderful resource.

I have chosen to give the form the Original name the creator applied, even though in her

description she called it "The Chandler Sonnet"..  I am already catching enough flax for finding so many non-complying sonnet forms.  

Example Poem

Instinct     (Chandelarian)

Instinctively the spider knows he has to build.

A DNA encoded knowledge, never taught

enables his performance, diligent and skilled.

His mommy never taught him though you think she ought.

To teach this task in college would require a lot,

and grant you membership in an especial guild.

Geometry and Physics, rules of Mandelbrot,

and Chemistry and math would be the skills they sought.

Our spider weaves his web without a second thought,

then finds it rendered useless by the moist air chilled

by nature's nocturnal show's ever changing plot.

The web will dry and work, or else he will rebuild.

Discontent with other's actions can occur

in daily functions even when we're trying

to co-operate- attempting to defer,

and misspoken words are taken as a slur.

This happens even when you are complying

and we don't always comply, that is for sure.

If mates can touch the care that's underlying

as by instinct they'll find their love undying.

My wife's patient as a saint

that's so, even though I ain't.

© Lawremcealot - Novemeber 20, 2013

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This template uses beginning Anapest for "c" rhymes

poet may choose any meter for either rhyme

Triple Rebel Round

This form was invented her by Rebel_Coyote of AllPoetry.com.

The poem consists of Three 5-line stanzas.

There are two styles,each having a triplet mono-rhyme.

 Version 1:  aaaBB cccBB dddBB
 Version 2:  aaBBB ccBBB ddBBB

Each Stanza has the first three lines of  mono-rhyme, followed by a two line refrain

of a different mono-rhyme.  The refrain occurs in the following two stanzas as well.

The second style is changed only in that it uses a THREE-line Refrain

As in this sample "Let's Write a Triple Rebel Round"

No meter is specified, but tetrameter or pentameter is suggested.

Example Poem

Momma Lost Me

My mother worked at Woolworths five and ten

and she'd let me ride to town now and then.

The bus driver knew where she worked and when.

At five years old the bus ride was great fun.

"Just stay aboard, I'll get you little one."

Nana'd put me on and she'd pay the fare.

When we reach her stop, momma would be there.

Except the time she wasn't anywhere.

At five years old the bus ride was great fun.

"Just stay aboard, I'll get you little one."

We passed the stop-- I 'membered what she said.

The driver winked "Let's see what lies ahead."

Mom found me on our return trip instead.

At five years old the bus ride was great fun.

"Just stay aboard, I'll get you little one."

 (c) Lawrencealot - 2012

Note: This was about 67 years ago in Ogden, Utah

A much safer time and place.  As usual the parent suffers more than the child.

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Trolaan

Trolaan, created by Valerie Peterson Brown, is a poem consisting of 4 quatrains.

Each quatrain begins with the same letter. The rhyme scheme is abab.

Starting with the second stanza you use the second letter of the first line of the first stanza to write the second each line beginning with that letter.

On the third stanza you will use the second letter on the first line of the second stanza and write the third each line beginning with that letter.

On the fourth stanza you will use the second letter on the first line of the third stanza and write the fourth each line beginning with that letter.

There is no mandatory line length or meter specified. (Added)

Example #1:

Distraught Blessings

Desire the sound or hope,
deluding minds in darkness.
Daunting though its scope,
deluged now with the access.

Elope into the morrow,
envelope me with song.
Enclose me now in sorrow
easing against the throng.

Longing for succulent prospect,
laying waste to eager night,
Lopsided in neglect,
listless with delight.

Only now will I protest,
owning nothing less.
Opening now I detest,
one more time to bless….

Copyright © 2008 Valerie Peterson Brown

 Pasted from <http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/trolaan.html> 

My example poem

In Sincerity, One Word or Two     (Trolaan)

Don't you now know I love you so?

Did I not tell you many times?

Do leaves not rustle when wind blows?

Devotion I spell out in rhymes.

Oh Sweetheart, never doubt my love.

Other young ladies hit on me.

Occasionally I will sort of

Omit offending, don't you see?

How can you feel demeaned, my sweet?

Harangues are not required at all.

Heaven knows they are not as neat.

Have trust! I love you most of all.

Open relationship are fun.

Of course I only play around

on those times I am with someone.

Otherwise, it's with you I'm found.

© Lawrencealot - July 7, 2013

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