Ronsarian Ode

Ronsardian Ode

The Ronsardian ode (named after Pierre de Ronsard 1524-1585) is the only kind of ode that specifies a particular rhyming scheme - ababccddc, with syllable counts of 10, 4, 10, 4, 10, 10, 4, 4, 8. 

In the present rather windy economic climate, I thought an owed might be appropriate.

Owed to the Bank

I rue the day when I picked up the phone

(Connected then)

And asked them to advance me a small loan.

Never again!

The moment the transaction was arranged,

The pattern of my entire life was changed.

More than I’d guessed,

The interest

Mounts up. I must have been deranged.

Eleven thousand pounds I owe, they say.

That’s quite a debt.

I swear I’ll pay it back to them one day,

But not just yet.

Meanwhile I need a place to lay my head,

A jug of wine perhaps, a loaf of bread.

Then there’s my wife...

For normal life

Can’t stop because I’m in the red.

I’ve hardly slept since this nightmare began.

I lie awake,

Find fatal flaws in every single plan

I try to make -

But last night all my ideas seemed to gel.

I’ll find another job; all will be well.

A banking post

Will pay the most.

Why’s that? It’s not too hard to tell.

Ah, life as a teller. It's a tempting thought. I think there should probably be a fourth stanza, but as yet there isn't. Sorry.

I bought a book of Ronsard’s selected poems, and it didn’t include a single Ronsardian ode. So some further research may be called for.

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

Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.

My example poem

Ode to a Creek        (Ronsarian Ode)

The little creek was built to irrigate

so men could farm.

Thus, daily men would rise to raise some gate

when days were warm.

Those summer days the creek would draw the  boys

away from practiced games and silly toys

to share the breeze

with brush and trees

that lined the creek, contained their noise.

The larger boys had tied a swinging rope

on which we played

and dropped to take our daily bath sans soap,

quite unafraid.

When swing and drop became at last mundane

up to that branch we'd boldly climb again

into two feet

it seemed so neat,

we bore our scratches with disdain.

One fall they warned we could not swim nor fish

White poison flowed

and fish preceded it; to live their wish.

Death was bestowed

on parasites and all the mossy growth.

But all the neighbor boys I knew were loath

to think them right

when deadly white

killed life and our short season both.

When winter came a fragile sheet of ice

made young boys bold

for they could walk across it once or twice

when it was cold.

They'd taunt the older boys and wouldn't care

how fast were bigger kids who'd chase them there.

The small ones knew

just what to do;

The bigs fell through most anywhere.

I cannot tell now where that creek had been;

growth needs, I guess.

New roads exist that hadn't been there then,

such is progress.

That creek's as gone as are my boyhood years.

but still the memories of it endears.

It served its roles

and other goals

before it bowed and disappeared.

© Lawrencealot - April 15, 2014

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Brevee

• The Brevee  is a terse list of related rhymes. One more verse form that appears to be invented as a learning tool, it was created by Marie Adams.
  
  The Brevee is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of sixains.
• syllabic, L1 L2 L4 L5 are 2 syllables each line and L3 & L6 are 4 syllables each.
• rhymed, rhyme scheme aabccb ddeffe.
• Cold by Judi Van Gorder
  Little
  brittle
  fragments of ice
  splinter
  winter
  ski paradise.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1882#baccresieze

•  

My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO

Specifications restated:

Stanzaic:  Any number of sestets

Syllabic: 2/2/4/2/2/4

Rhymed: aabccb

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Whitney

WHITNEY

This titled syllabic form, created by Betty Ann Whitney, has exactly seven lines.

Syllable Pattern:  3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 7

Example:

In the Garden Year

Voted best 

Among the months 

May and June 

Sprout root and grow. 

Soon will dance 

On wiry stems 

A blend of upturned blossoms.

Betty Ann Whitney, Wesley Chapel, FL 

Pasted from <http://sol-magazine-projects.org/sol/poetryforms.htm#whitney>

My Example Poem

Introducing Summer  (Whitney)

Trampolines

and Bar-B-ques

and new mown

grass are mighty

fine, but still,

bikinis I

like best; hope I always will.

© Lawrencealot - April 15, 2014

Waltz Wave

WALTZ WAVE

This form, named for Leo Waltz, the Web Manager of Sol Magazine, asks for a one-stanza titled poem, with nineteen lines; each line has a set number of syllables.

Pattern:   1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1

Words may be split into syllables to fit the pattern.  This form seems to educe a soothing cadence as the lines gently increase and decrease, so it is suggested that topic chosen for this form also be soothing. 

  

Pasted from <http://sol-magazine-projects.org/sol/poetryforms.htm#whitney> 

Wounded Couplet

This is a form invented by Lillibet, aka Streambed on Allpoetry.

This form contains within its rhyming pattern, two couplets, one of which seems wounded, and is wrapped by four other lines, hence some rationale for its name.

It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of octains.

It is syllabic 10/10/6/10/10/10/10/10

It is metric, using iambic meter.

It is rhymed, the pattern being: abccbadd

Example Poem

Elixir     (Wounded Couplet)

My lover went a wandering I think

for he believes that magic will restore

his potency and verve.

He wants to play around is all.  What nerve!

He claims he's seeking mermaids by the shore

to find for him an elixir to drink.

Which beats testosterone in every way

whenever fortitude comes into play.

The tavern called the "Wharf" is near the beach

and frequently young barmaids catch his eye

(which seldom scans the shore.)

Perhaps it's just the scanty clothes they wore.

I guess he'll look for fairies by and by.

The man's intent let's try not to impeach.

If elixir's at home in foaming glass

he'll need a test, and's sure to make a pass.

I figured then that two could play that game

so put on fairy costume with a mask

and strode into the bar.

The men's reactions  bordered on bizarre.

I had five drinks and didn't have to ask,

But all their pick-up lines were truly lame.

When sitting, my costume revealed my thighs,

which seemed to be a magnet for the guys.

My lover was among the gazing flock,

He leered at me with barely hidden lust.

His fairy had appeared.

The absence of a potion was not feared,

as his eyes roamed from ankles up to bust.

His codpiece was enlarged, and not with socks.

The elixir was visual nothing more.

Adventure comes to men when they explore.

I saw some girls were equally entranced

with fairy wings and panty showing skirt,

and thus I tweaked my plan

and this is how my fairy tale began.

I planned and schemed and still had time to flirt

and with each wink I found my plan enhanced.

With stealth each girl departed then came back

prepared to mount our fairy tale attack.

Each girl returned in fairy tale attire

and each in turn gave their farewell that night

then walked out to the sea.

We danced and splashed and shared a fine esprit

and spoke of fairy kings and mortal's plight

and all the fantasy the men require.

My lover saw his fairies on the beach

but all of us were well beyond his reach.

When I got home light hues announced the dawn.

my drunken lover was unconscious yet.

He needed all his sleep.

As planned, his dreams were bothersome and deep.

He woke and pulled me close and said, "Annette,

It frightened me when last night you were gone.

It gave me pause and gave me cause to grieve.

I'll not again go chasing make believe."

© Lawrencealot - April 14, 2014

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Swinburne Decastitch

This form combining the rhyming pattern of an interrupted Petrachan Sonnet, with the breathing  cadence of common meter may have somewhere been used before, but it was definitely used and captured for us by Algernon Charles Swinburne in his "A Ballad of Death".

I merely record it here and give it a name by which we can refer as we attempt to write such poems of our own.

It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of stanzas.

It is Syllabic: 10/10/6/10/10/10/6/10/10/10

It is Rhymed: abbacdecde

It is composed in iambic meter.

Example Poem

Cultural Patrimony     (Swinburne Decastitch)

When any culture deems it right to maul

and kill, inflicting pain, can you explain

away my great disdain?

Can you excuse the citizens and all

who legislate and rule who use as tool

the very worst impulses of man's mind?

Against such things let's rail!

We simply cannot fool ourselves- it's cruel

to torment any species that we find.

With that in mind I'd like to tell this tale.

Young boys are often wooed by danger's taunt

and while still teens endeavor to learn skills

to please the crowds with thrills.

'Tis machismo alone that these boys flaunt,

and doubtlessly they want to earn the fame

accruing to the greatest in this "sport"

so fam'lies can be proud.

And many boys who play this dangerous game

will end up lame or have their life cut short

where death and torture's commonly allowed.

In training some are killed or truly maimed.

and never set their feet into bull's ring.

This is an honored thing!

But culture failing still persists unnamed,

where people think this cost perhaps is small;

and small it well may be when men have learned

compassion has no role.

If humankind is not herewith appalled

by acts dispensing pain where it's unearned

each man accepts canker on his soul.

When man pits bull against a lion foe,

again to entertain and titillate,

we each should fee self-hate.

The gladiator games we must outgrow,

like burning ants and pulling off fly's wings.

Each species may do harsh things to survive.

But evil has its cost.

When man accepts it's right to torture things

which share our space and roam our earth alive,

compassion for all life will soon be lost.

© Lawrencealot - April 13, 2014

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Dansa

Dansa

The dansa is an Occitan verse form i.e. it's from the troubadour territory of southern France. All the verses except the first are the same: they rhyme aabb with the last line a repeated refrain. The first verse has five lines, and consists of the refrain followed by four lines similar to all the other verses. No particular metre is essential, but Skelton says six-syllable lines are common in Occitan verse, so that's what I used.

A Load of Rot

Mulching is the future!

Let those clippings lie there,

Proving how much you care.

For lawns needing nurture,

Mulching is the future.

Don’t clear up that cut grass!

Lie down; let the urge pass.

Be at one with nature -

Mulching is the future.

You need no-one’s pardon;

This is your own garden.

For your private pasture,

Mulching is the future.

Your leisure is well-earned.

Relax; don’t be concerned.

Look, see the big picture:

Mulching is the future.

What you leave will decay.

It will provide one day

Nutrients and moisture.

Mulching is the future.

Don’t get up; better far

To stay right where you are.

As with any creature,

Mulching is your future.

I saw a lawnmower on sale with the slogan "Mulching is the future". I found it a catchy slogan but a depressing thought. Still, there had to be a poem in it... It was just a question of finding a suitable verse form. I think the dansa was a fair choice.

I cheated slightly by altering one word in the final repetition of the refrain.  Poetic licence.

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

Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.

My example poem-

Since Bob used a slogan, I did too.

Intrigue     (Dansa)

Does she? Or doesn't she?

If you but only knew.

Instead you have no clue.

So what is it to be?

Does she? Or doesn't she?

A guy, you can just ask,

it's such a simple task

It can't sound like a plea,

Does she? Or doesn't she?

Why should you really care

what color is her hair.

But when it comes to me,

Does she? Or doesn't she?

© Lawrencealot - April 12, 2014

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