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Tag Archives: Lawrencealot
Bush Ballad Meter Sonnet
In the flavor of the “Man From Snowy River” by Andrew Barton Paterson I have set forth the following specifications for what I am calling the “Bush Ballad Meter Sonnet”.
Creator: Lawrence Eberhart, aka on Allpoetry as Lawrencealot.
Syllabic: L1 through L2 alternate 15 and 11 syllable. Lines 13 and 14 each have 15 syllables.
Rhyme pattern: ababcdcdefefgg
Metric: Primarily anapestic and iambic meter.
I guess technically all lines begin with an anapest,
the first 6 long lines then have 2 tertius paeons and 2 iambs’
the short lines have four iambs
the last two have 1 tertius paeon and 4 iambs
but the visual template is easier to understand.
Anapestic foot [da da DUM]
Iambic foot [da DUM]
Tertius paeon foot [ da da da DUM]
My example poem
Dominion (Bush Ballad Meter Sonnet)
When a chieftain comes to power, it’s because he’s acted well
in providing for the welfare of the tribe.
When a politician rises with smooth rhetoric to sell
what’s not really his to give, then it’s a bribe.
When a clique of any dogma with agenda driven goals
should encounter opposition to its plan,
that’s when greed and self-advancement will supplant more lofty roles,
and the powerful will kill because they can.
When a species such as humans has no predators to fear
yet they have the wherewithal to calculate,
it’s perhaps the plan of Gaia (causing some to disappear)
to allow cupidity to turn to hate.
For it’s certain through the ages, those in power decimate;
we can hope for what it’s worth that man awakes before too late.
© Lawrencealot – June 21, 2014
Visual Template
Sonnet Anapest
Sonnet Anapest is a sonnet form created by Lawrence Eberhart, aka Lawrencealot on AP. It will be listed here as a gadget sonnet as it lies outside the parameters of the standard sonnet
It is a quatorzain written the rhyme pattern of an English Sonnet.
It is a quatorzain written the rhyme pattern of an English Sonnet.
The defining character is that lines alternate between anapestic tetrameter and anapestic trimeter with feminine rhyme.
Example Poem
Puddles (Sonnet Anapest)
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” ~Vivian Greene

When the rainstorm brought puddles and pools to our street
and most huddled in side, warm and wary,
the prospect of some splashing invited my feet
and so nothing about it was scary.
I was bundled in rain gear, galoshes and hat
and was thrilled with the wetness and splashing
and the water went flying when my boots went splat!
Then the lightning and thunder came crashing.
When my mom called me in I complied, you can bet
(in a hurry) for fright was controlling.
But my mommy had cookies and cocoa all set
so the rainy day’s joys kept on rolling.
I was trained to be happy and happy I’ve stayed.
Just arrange the board pieces the fates have displayed.
© Lawrencalot – April 4, 2014
Visual Template
Jonathon Livingston Seagull – A Poem (A Heroic Crown of Sonnets)
1. The Breakfast Flock
To fly was so much more than flapping wings
and while the Breakfast Flock besieged the fleet
that chummed the water, Jonathon had things
to do ‘sides squawk and dodge and fight to eat.
The thousand gulls began another day,
their raucous screeching testimony to
their group-think need to aggregate that way,
for they could see no other thing to do.
Yet Jonathon would so much rather fly.
He lived to fly while others flew to eat.
He flew a hundred feet into the sky
and practiced learning a new turning feat.
A disgrace others would not take so well,
so tight a curve he tried, he stalled and fell.
2. Level Flight
So tight a curve he tried, he stalled and fell.
But unashamed, (though seagulls never stall),
he stretched his wings and tried again- as well
you note: he was not common after all.
He found that when less than a half wingspan
above the water he could float on air,
effortlessly, a most efficient plan
that let him glide most far without a care.
But others cared! His dad and mother asked”
“Why Jon, can’t you be like all of the rest
and leave low flying to the birds so tasked-
the pelicans who surely do that best?”
“Be like others, avoid the social stings
Conform,” they said, “try doing natural things.”
3. Being Obedient
“Conform,” they said, try doing natural things.
Jon really tried for several days that week.
He tried to wear his mother’s apron strings.
he screeched and dove and fought with wing and beak.
He flocked around the piers and fishing boats
and dove for scraps of fish and tossed out bread.
He chaffed against the ennui that promotes.
So pointless- he could learn to fly instead.
Deliberately he then dropped his fish,
a hungry old gull chasing him was pleased.
To learn to fly was Jonathon’s real wish.
and now the opportunity was seized.
I’ll not conform to nonsense they compel-
Nope! I’m going to fly and soon excel
4. Fixed Wing Flight
Nope! I’m going to fly and soon excel.
Alone again way out to sea, his need
to learn was something not to quench or quell
so practice was the plan, this week’s goal: speed.
He learned why gulls don’t make such speedy dives;
at seventy, the wings become unstable
on the upstroke. No matter how one strives,
that darn gull upstroke one cannot enable.
So Jon decided trying something man
had use, a fixed-wing for his fast descent.
He flapped ’til fifty MPH and then
held his wings still and only slightly bent.
From two thousand feet, plunging without lulls
he set the world recorded speed for gulls.
5. Speed Record
He set the world recorded speed for gulls.
exceeding ninety MPH- then crashed.
Unconscious still dreamed of lofty goals
and sought to solve that problem, unabashed.
He woke with wings like ragged bars of lead
but weight of failure was still even worse.
He wished he’d simply sink and end up dead,
for failures seemed his own repeated curse.
But sinking low he heard a voice within
“I’m limited by nature, am I not?
If meant for speed I’d have wings short and thin-
like falcons and would not have to be taught. “
He’d join the flock, and once again act right,
by accident he flew toward home at night.
6. Epiphany
By accident he flew toward home at night;
“It’s dark!”, an inner voice intoned, get down!-
seagulls you know, will never find that right.”
If you were meant to fly at night you clown,
an owls eyes you’d have – also charts for brains
and the short wings of falcons… short wings- wait.”
The answer pushed a rushing through his veins,
short wings has been the missing needed trait.
So, now he rose two thousand feet above-
“I’ll fold my wings and fly on tips alone.”
No thought of death- pursuing what he loved
he “knew” that he’d just found his new speed zone.
Re-born, rejoiced, this single seagull mulls..
he’d found the inspiration Flock-thought dulls.
7. 200 MPH
He’d found the inspiration Flock-thought dulls.
He dove, his wings now clamped against his side
it was as if some laws he would annul.
At such amazing speed it was a ride.
The faintest twitch of wingtips promptly eased
him from his dive, and shot him over waves-
a cannonball of grey- and he was pleased;
His vows abandoned for the life he craves.
Now practice was required and sun- up found
him up five thousand feet above the fleet
about to dive again and to astound.
And that he did in manner not so neat.
He’d learned to speed but hadn’t planned it right;
he just missed hitting flock of gulls in flight.
8. Banished
He just missed hitting flock of gulls in flight.
but learned that day to turn at speed, the loop,
the roll, the pinwheel, too to his delight!
The Council came together as a group
and shamed him for his acts! He was cast out.
He spent the rest of his days all alone
but that was not what sorrow was about,
it was their missing what they might have known.
The flock refused the glory learning brought.
They would keep scrabbling after chopped fish heads
while delicious fresh fish were easily caught
by streamlined dives beneath the waves instead.
Then Jon saw how good life could really be,
the flock then cast him out and set him free.
9. Years later
The flock then cast him out and set him free.
Two gulls as pure as starlight flew beside
him- friendly, smiling; their wings couldn’t be
an inch from his wingtips on either side.
He tested them. One knot above stall speed,
then dives slow rolls and loops-they matched each move.
They passed completely every test indeed
“We’re brothers came their words so strong and smooth.
We’ve come to take you home for you have learned.
One school is finished, yet another waits.”
At last he said “I’m ready”, and up he turned
with gulls he knew were heaven’s delegates.
He’d spend his life at mental freedom’s helm;
his freedom took him to a higher realm
10. The Elder
His freedom took him to a higher realm.
The same old Jonathon looked through his eyes,
but form had changed enough to overwhelm.
Seagulls here all seemed satisfied and wise.
“Chiang…”, (said to one soon to leave this world),
this isn’t heaven after all is it?”
“Your wings are not the only part unfurled,
my son, you’re learning and will never quit.
And heaven’s not a time or place at all;
it’s being perfect- barriers all surpassed!
You’ll find perfection, if such speed’s your call,
when going any takes no time. That’s fast.
Keep learning son, and you’ll begin to see
where nothing lays beyond reality.”
11. An Instructor
Where nothing lays beyond reality
Jon let his love become his life’s new goal.
He found some others outcast such as he,
and assumed what was meant to be his role.
When Fletcher Lynn Seagull became his charge,
outcast because his dream was just to fly,
Jon felt an obligation to discharge,
Jon taught him how- and more, he taught him why.
For now, ’twas not for him alone he strove,
but for all blinded by their seagull-hood.
He sought to share life’s very treasure trove,
to teach the Flock their blindness was not good.
The mission seemed to some to overwhelm
one needed only guidance at the helm.
12. Return to Flock
One needed only guidance at the helm.
and Jonathon was now the one to teach.
“Your mind can go to any place or realm;
there is no speed that lies beyond your reach.”
To his eight students he announced, “It’s now
that we return to Flock.” Some anguish rose
among his group. “By law we’re outcasts, how
can we return?” Jon told them how it goes.”
“We’re not now flock, and where we wish we go.”
and thus they flew, a tight formation group,
they were perhaps the very first airshow!
The Flock’s unblinking eyes all watched the troop.
Apart but near the students stretched their wings,
within Flock’s view Jon taught his crew new things.
13. Overcoming the Physical
Within Flock’s view Jon taught his crew new things.
One day with dangling wing a gull approached
“I want to fly, but flying takes two wings…”
“You want to fly, and so you will Jon coached.
And when he did, he screamed, “Look at me fly!”
A thousand gulls approached the training class
now eager to be shown just how and why.
Jon taught that ritual habits must not last.
For laws restricting freedom are contrived;
they served up order only at great cost,
and while the Flock continued to survive
the thrill of living freely has been lost.
When soul is free that’s when a gull’s heart sings;
To fly was so much more than flapping wings
14. Passing the Torch
To fly was so much more than flapping wings
Your body’s just a picture in your mind,
Your spirit’s where reality now clings.
You’re anywhere you want to be, you’ll find.
When Jonathon left- thought himself away,
a student stepped into the teacher role.
And Fletcher knew that he too’d learn some day
and teleport to Jon on beach or shoal.
For while we’re here and now it’s also true
that now is also everywhere right now
and quantum physics makes up part of you
through multi-universes anyhow.
Enlightenment won’t come as soon for some
but living free will someday let it come.
To fly was so much more than flapping wings
So tight a curve he tried, he stalled and fell.
Conform they said, try doing natural things.
Nope! I’m going to fly and soon excel.
He set the world recorded speed for gulls.
By accident he flew toward home at night;
he found the inspiration Flock-thought dulls.
He just missed hitting flock of gulls in flight.
The flock then cast him out and set him free.
His freedom took him to a higher realm
where nothing lays beyond reality,
one needed only guidance at the helm.
Within Flock’s view Jon taught his crew new things;
to fly was so much more than flapping wings
© Lawrencealot – March 12, 2014
Author’s Notes:
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach,
is a fable in novella form about a seagull learning about life
and flight, and a homily about self-perfection.
It was first published in 1970 as “Jonathan Livingston Seagull — a story.”
Published March 12, 2014 on Allpoetry.com by Lawrence Eberhart.
Doggonnet
This form was invented by Larry Eberhart, aka Lawrencealot on AP.
It was spawned by the apparent fixation contest hosts had with brevity at the time.
This is what would be called a “gadget” sonnet.
They rhyme scheme is that of an English Sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg
All lines are six syllables.
REQUIRED:
Two of the quatrains MUST be iambic trimeter.
The other quatrain MUST be trochaic trimeter.
The couplet may be either meter.
Example Poem
Ain’t That a Bitch?
She’s a cute and tiny
pup I think I’ll like,
Don’t she have a hiney?
Where’d ya find her, Mike?
You fabricated her?
She’s just an artifact?
and that’s not really fur?
That’s me in the abstract?
I’m gonna be depressed
I’m ready for a mate.
But facts must be confessed.
I’ll be content to wait…
before the dating starts,
find one with all the parts.
August 28, 2013
Visual Template
Paulo Comitatu Sonnet
Paulo Comitatu means “Little Train” in Latin.
This Sonnet was created by Lawrencelot, using the Paulo Comitatu poetry form designed by Allan R. Emery, aka Joe King on Allpoetry.
I think all credit for the form should go to him, after all I simply added a heroic couplet to his already existing work and expanded the metric options.
Jose Rizal M. Reyes of the Philippines, has identified sonnets of the head, the heart, and the hand.
I believe Joe King has a reverence for the traditional sonnets of the head and heart, and therefore would not himself (I suspect) compose a “gadget” sonnet- (those which Jose refers to as sonnets of the hand.)
I have no such reservation. Here is a form that will lend itself well to levity, capriciousness, and mirth, simply because mono-rhyme plays to that arena, as does the late volta.
This sonnet is composed of 3 quatrains, the first line of each being iambic pentameter or tetrameter, and the next three being one foot less (tetrameter or trimeter).
The closing couplet is Iambic pentameter.
Rhyme scheme: abbb accc deee dd
Transitive Sonnet
This is a sonnet form created by Larry Eberhart, aka Lawrencealot
which has its roots the non-sonnet form Monometric.
It is a chameleon type sonnet, because it CANNOT be identified by looking at its apparent rhyme scheme.
It is Stanzaic with couplets and tercets enveloping a quatrain
Meter is of the poet’s choice
Line length is 8 to 13 syllables (accommodating feminine rhyme)
Recommended: Iambic tetrameter or pentameter
Rhyme scheme: aa bbb cccc bbb aa
The sonnet takes its name from the fact that the second occurrence of rhyme set may have its true rhyme sound changed by the use of any device such as slant rhyme (heart, star or milk, walk),assonance, consonance, eye rhyme (date, temperate), or heteronyms.
Note: such rhymes may be used anytime or never. Transition is NOT required, only ALLOWED.
Example Poem
Child
I’m saving treasures in a dresser drawer:
a diaper pin, the little shoes you wore
with jingles in the laces, a barrette
still clasping strands of wispy hair. They whet
my hankering for things I can’t forget.
a diaper pin, the little shoes you wore
with jingles in the laces, a barrette
still clasping strands of wispy hair. They whet
my hankering for things I can’t forget.
Before our paths converged, I held a view
of easy, unobstructed passage through
the challenges of motherhood. I knew
exactly what to do at twenty-two.
But that was long before my stumbling feet
were pressed into the coals, the searing heat
of constant battle forcing my retreat.
And though you’ve plunged my heart into despair
a thousand nights, I can’t forget to care.
(c) Mary Sullivan Boren – March, 2013
Visual Template
Nevada Sonnet
A Nevada Sonnet is merely a Fourteener with required, consistent internal rhyme occurring at the same syllable in each line. The idea is to keep the Alexandrine meter from falling apart under its own weight. This is all about making the sonnet a more cohesive unit.
Metrics: 14 lines written in Iambic heptameter
Rhyme Pattern: Any sonnet pattern known to man, including blank verse.
Defining characteristic: An internal rhyme pair in consistent position on each line.
Volta optional.
Example Poem:
I’ve Killed (Nevada Sonnet)
An atheist, an agnostic, a Christian and a fool,
I’ve been deist, and quite caustic toward what I’ve deemed fraud.
I’ve been a lout who wielded clout, a bureaucrat, a tool,
an entrepreneur, full of manure, and… some things to laud.
I’ve killed, and not in war. For that my soul is sore. The rest
I can amend or change my friend, but that’s indelible.
I killed what meant most to me. His ghost I see- on rare nights.
Mercy killing, though culture willing, is not correctable.
I killed my dying pup. Defying reason, conscience stings.
I was too small then to quell all life with one mighty blow.
I had to hit ,and cry and hit, hit again. Of all things
I’ve ever done, that is the one that haunts. Empathy so
flows to dogs that all my life, says my wife, I’ve felt more pain
for them then men. That may be so until we meet again.
© Larry Eberhart, aka, Lawrencealot
Visual Template:
Betwixt Sonnet
Friday, October 12, 2012
5:28 PM
This form was invented for Sonnet 1327 by
Jose Rizal M. Reyes, of February 26, 2009
format: English (3 quad trains plus a couplet)
rhyming pattern: abba cbbc dbbd bb
IT was named the Betwixt Sonnet on November 13, 2012
by Lawrencealot until I hear otherwise from the ‘Fair youth”
Example:
Accidental Me ( Betwixt Sonnet )
The chances of becoming you were small.
Your mother might have never said okay,
when first she met your father that one day.
Another beau might then have won the call.
The mating might have some how been postponed
or hurried by just seconds either way,
ejaculate could have been washed away,
or killed by spermicide your momma owned.
A simple cough that nudged the winning sperm
decided you’d be who you are today.
But certainly you are your dossier
so fill it up and never act infirm.
The game is being played out everyday
and as for me I find it fun to play.
Lawrencealot – November 13, 2012
Visual Template:
AA Sonnet – 12 Step Sonnet
This sonnet was invented by Larry Eberhart, aka, Lawrencealot
It steals a page from the Burmese poem form know a Ya Du, in that it uses staircase-rhyme as well as end-rhyme.
The sonnet can be written in either Iambic or Trochaic Tetrameter or Pentameter. The form is different for each, because of the 12-Step internal rhyme pattern.
The Tetrameter version is three quatrains and a couplet,
Rhyme Patter n: abab cdcd efef gg
The internal rhyme has the first syllable rhyming with the For each stanza the first syllable in line 1
rimes with the 2nd syllable in line2
with the 3rd syllable in line 3, and
with the 4th syllable in line 3.
The Petrameter version is two sestets and a couplet.
Rhyme Pattern is abcabc dedede ff
The same scheme is applied to each stanza as was used in
the tetramter version, except at Line 4, and L10 new
rhyme sounds are selected. (This limiting required rhymes to three)
NO Volta is required, but may be used anywhere at poet’s discretion.
Example.
Restraint (AA Sonnet – 12 Step Sonnet)
A drunk husband with rifle in the door.
That day I was the fourth cop there, so went
right away to the rear of that small house.
The cops were talking – they would talk some more.
A danger now stalked we hoped to prevent.
I found window unlocked, with view of spouse.
Beyond the wife was man with back to me,
and he was never looking back my way.
Quietly, I slide open my entry,
but paused- negotiations underway
were calming him, though he held the gun he
did not point, so I showed restraint that day.
Entering that room I’d have been a fuse-
With not a lot to gain and much to lose.
Template:
It steals a page from the Burmese poem form know a Ya Du, in that it uses staircase-rhyme as well as end-rhyme.
The sonnet can be written in either Iambic or Trochaic Tetrameter or Pentameter. The form is different for each, because of the 12-Step internal rhyme pattern.
The Tetrameter version is three quatrains and a couplet,
Rhyme Patter n: abab cdcd efef gg
The internal rhyme has the first syllable rhyming with the For each stanza the first syllable in line 1
rimes with the 2nd syllable in line2
with the 3rd syllable in line 3, and
with the 4th syllable in line 3.
The Petrameter version is two sestets and a couplet.
Rhyme Pattern is abcabc dedede ff
The same scheme is applied to each stanza as was used in
the tetramter version, except at Line 4, and L10 new
rhyme sounds are selected. (This limiting required rhymes to three)
NO Volta is required, but may be used anywhere at poet’s discretion.
Example.
Restraint (AA Sonnet – 12 Step Sonnet)
A drunk husband with rifle in the door.
That day I was the fourth cop there, so went
right away to the rear of that small house.
The cops were talking – they would talk some more.
A danger now stalked we hoped to prevent.
I found window unlocked, with view of spouse.
Beyond the wife was man with back to me,
and he was never looking back my way.
Quietly, I slide open my entry,
but paused- negotiations underway
were calming him, though he held the gun he
did not point, so I showed restraint that day.
Entering that room I’d have been a fuse-
With not a lot to gain and much to lose.
Template: