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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Soft-Songed Tercet

Soft-Songed Tercet

Type:	Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Other Requirement, Simple
Description:	This form has four requirements. It is iambic. The schema is: xxxxxa xxxxxbxxxxxb xxxxxa There must be an unusual image or turn of phrase. It must have a soft feel to it. There is also a multi-stanza form called the soft-songed triplet.
Schematic:	Rhyme/Syllable: xxxxxa xxxxxbxxxxxb xxxxxa Meter: xX xX xX

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/002/274.shtml>

Thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for the wonderful resource.

•  

• Soft Songed Tercet is an invented verse form found at Poetry Base that has an unusual request, the verse must have a "soft feel".
  
  The Soft Songed Tercet is:
• a tristich, a poem in 3 lines. When written in more than one tercet the form is oddly named the Soft Songed Triplet. ("Tercet" is 3 line unit as is a "triplet", both of which can be written in any number within a poem. The words are often used interchangeably however, the classic English "triplet" is usually monorhymed. So technically the name Soft Songed Tercet properly should apply to both a single tristich or the stanzaic form of any number of tercets.)
• metered, iambic, L1 &L3 are trimeter, L2 is hexameter.
• rhymed, rhymed a(bb)a L2 has internal rhyme.
• composed with an unusual image.
• composed with a "soft feel".
  x x x x x a
  x x x x x b x x x x x b
  x x x x x a
  
  Furry Fix by jvg
  
  Silky fluff warms my palm
  as I cup a small plump rabbit waiting to jump
  free. Its fine fur a balm.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1197#soft>

Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource.

Example Poem

Fluppet

So fluffy I've been made

I'll bring your daughter joy - become her favorite toy,

she'll never be afraid.

© Lawrencealot - February 6, 2014

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Ballad

 A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter but most frequently deals with folk-lore or popular legends.

They are written in straight-forward verse, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are suitable for singing and, while sometimes varied in practice, are generally written in ballad meter, i.e., alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with the last words of the second and fourth lines rhyming.

Example Poem

Part of a composite poem called
Loves Lost


When cancer took my mom away
I wished it had been me.
Yet Johnnie's pain was just the same,
that anyone could see.

I took the emo route and thought
I'd maybe end my life.
Then Johnny took up guiding reins
no longer held by wife.

He brought me back from self-abuse
and stopped me being wild.
He gave me strength and sound advice
a mother gives her child.

He told me my virginity
was not for common guys;
it was a one-time gift to give
to true love as a prize.

"To honor your mom, succeed now
and in your coming life."
He cared for me relentlessly
while having now no wife.

My love for Jonny, grew with me,
(for I'd begun to bloom.)
I fantasized about my  "dad"
when lonely in my room.

He was a "hunk" my girl-friends thought.
I'd always shared that view.
Two hundred pounds of sculptured male
and standing six-foot-two.

My want was such I had to touch
his beauty every day.
I'd accidently show down blouse
and make my cute butt sway.

And when I'd sit upon his lap
before "goodnights" were said,
I'd feel him grow and I would know,
what he would do in bed.

Then one warm summer day instead
of sitting I just rode
his leg.  It was spontaneous
and caused me to explode.

His want was clear, but one lone tear
I saw roll down his face.
He thought accepting offered gift
would be his life's disgrace.

We talked and hugged and he held
me closely while he said,
"My sweetheart Ann, when you're eight-teen
I think that we should wed.

© Lawrencealot - November 10, 2012

Butterfly Quintet

This is a Butterfly Quintet created by Amanda Jean Norton

Stanza 1 is Iambic Pentameter rhyming abcbd

Stanza 2 is Iambic Tetrameter rhyming effe

Stanza 3 has 2 lines of Iambic Trimeter, Enveloped by 2 lines of Iambic Pentameter

The rhyming words are the same words in each set EGGE

Stanza 4 is Iambic Tetrameter rhyming hiih

Stanza 5 is Iambic Pentameter rhyming abcbd

Example Poem

Write a Butterfly Quintet

To write a Butterfly Quintet my pet

you place complex content in stanza one.

There's room internally to romp with rhyme

or sprinkle sparks of alliteration.

The same thing goes, by jive in stanza five.

In middle stanzas do your play.

These step more quickly, I believe;

less time to ponder, think or grieve.

First line next stanza have you say!

Expound your thesis here-- it's quite okay.

Exclaim your point right now.

Make emphasis some how.

The repeated words for that deed are okay.

Now butterfly, just flutter by.

Just play and give the air some shoves--

enjoyed wherever there are loves.

You light their hearts up butterfly.

Here the conclusion you'd most likely set,

with evidence supporting, now begun.

If playful theme there's still a  lot of time

To zig and zag, and twist the plot for fun.

Your muse can use this form to come alive.

© Lawrencealot  - July 2, 2012

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Hex Sonnata

The HexSonnetta, created by Andrea Dietrich, 

consists of two six-line stanzas and a finishing rhyming 

couplet with the following set of rules:

Meter: Iambic Trimeter 

Rhyme Scheme: a/bb/aa/b c/dd/cc/d ee 

Iambic Trimeter means the usual iambic (alternating unstressed/stressed)

 meter for every line of the poem, but instead of the ten syllables that 

comprise a typical sonnet's iambic pentameter, this particular form uses 

six syllables of iambic trimeter per line. Thus, the name HexSonnetta. 

The first part of the form’s name refers to the syllable count per line. 

The second part of the name, Sonnetta, is to show this to be a form 

similar to the sonnet, yet with its shorter lines and different rhyme 

scheme, it is not the typical sonnet. Not only does this poem have six 

syllables per line, it also has a set of two six-line stanzas, giving 

an extra “hex” to the meaning of HexSonnetta. 

The rhyme scheme is a bit of a mixture of the two traditional sonnet types, 

with the two 6-line stanzas having more the rhyme scheme of an Italian sonnet, 

but with the ending rhyming couplet being the featured rhyme scheme of the 

English sonnet. The first stanza presents the theme of the poem, with the 

second stanza serving to change the tone of the poem, to introduce a new 

aspect of the theme or to give added details. 

The final couplet, as in an English sonnet, can be either a summary 

(if the theme is simple) or it could be the resolution to a problem 

presented in the theme. In any event, it should nicely tie together 

the whole piece and could even appear as a nice “twist” presented at the end.

Example Poem

Gam-boy No Batteries 

The tramp stamp tattoo's swell

but now it is passé.

This tat's for every day.

It's sure to cast a spell

and start-up jitters, quell.

Just need a pen to play.

You verbal skills may suck.

You may be shy to boot.

The guys will closer scoot.

Keep in your car or truck

a pen for your own luck.

and playing is a hoot!

Put one upon your thighs.

for really studly guys.

© Lawrencealot - May 22, 2012

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Paulo Ludibrium Comitatu

Paulo Ludibrium Comitatu (Little Toy Train), created by Lawrencealot

      Patterned after the Paulo Comitatu

The form consists of one or more octaves where the 1st and 5th lines

are Iambic Trimeter with and extra unaccented syllable

da DUM  da DUM  da DUM da (Technically two iambs and an amphibrach)

The remaining lines are proper Iambic Trimeter

Rhyme Pattern: xaba xcbc

This form was designed by synergystic accident, while attempting to

to co-write a poem, and identify the beginning form.

 It is handy if poets are sharing alternating quatrains, and the second poet has strong rhyming skills.

It was placed here for all to enjoy.

Example Poem

Waiting for Her Backwoods Pilot

She sat there by the window

and watched the falling rain.

Her mind went to the past

she hummed a sweet refrain.

He traveled through the forest

with cautious stealth and dread.

Alone and failing fast,

he'd crashed and should be dead.

(c) Lawrencealot November  11, 2012

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Short Measure

Meter: Iambic trimeter, EXCEPT line three which is iambic tetrameter

Short Measure or Short Meter, is:

• stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. When written in octaves doubling the short measure quatrains, the verse form is called Double Short Measure.
• metered, most often L1, L2, L4 iambic trimeter, L3 is iambic tetrameter.
• rhymed, Rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb etc x being unrhymed.
• called Poulter's Measure when consolidated into 2 lines.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=660> 

Example Poem

Audition      (Short Measure)

  

The teacher greeted her,

the girl with hair in bun.

She wrote his lectures in a book,

as though his words were fun.

At work she did her job,

and filled the bosses cup.

Her brightness and congenial help

seemed never to let up.

In church she sat with legs

so primly crossed, and hands

reclining folded in her lap,

decorum church demands.

With me she is alive

and dresses to entice.

She shows some cleavage and some thigh,

The both of which are nice.

I'm looking seriously.

and want not just a tart.

her looks had hooked and reeled me in,

her mind got her the part.

   © Lawrencealot - January  6, 2013

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