Category Archives: Contemplative

Curtal Quatrain

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Curtal Quatrain (French- cut short) is a 19th century American verse form made popular by Archibald Mac Leish. This is not the quatrain used in theCurtal Sonnet of a few of decades before. The sonnet may have influenced the creation of this verse form but the sonnet’s quatrain is 4 lines of iambic pentameter with a trimeter tail added as a 5th line. In the Curtal Quatrain the 4th line is the shorter line.

Curtal Quatrain is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
• metered, primarily iambic. L1, L2, L3 are pentameter and L4 is dimeter.
• rhymed. Rhyme scheme xaxa

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=622#quatrain
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Fresh Start (Curtal Quatrain)

Some days you rise, intent on making hay
but by the time the coffee’s brewed to taste
the fine aroma announces that it’s
too fresh to waste.

‘Twould be a crime to let it sit and burn,
degrading coffee oils and caffeine too.
It’s best I guess, to postpone things and just
enjoy the brew.

© Lawrencealot – November 24, 2014

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Curtal Quatrain

Cuaderna Via

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Cuaderna Via (frame way) is a strict, syllabic stanzaic form that dominated most of the serious Spanish poetry for the 13th and 14th centuries until the 15th century when it was replaced by the more generic Art Major. The Cuaderna Via was the introduction of syllabic verse into Castillian poetry. It appears to have been originated by the Spanish clergy under French influence, hence the alternative names of mester de clerecía and nueva maestría. It is also known as alejandrino (14) since Spanish verse is often named for the number of syllables the lines contain, the alejandrino is now classified as a verse of Art Major.

One of the earliest known Spanish poets to utilize the form was Gonzalo de Berceo 1190-1264 and some of the best known Cuaderna Via’s were 14th century Juan Ruiz’s Libro d Buen Amor and Pedro López de Ayala’s autobiographic, Rimado de Palacio which was a satire of contemporary society.

This stanzaic form is known for its “rigidity of form: syllables are counted carefully” NPEOPP. In addition to the rigid meter, only true rhyme is allowed.

The Cuaderna Via is:
• stanzaic, written in any # of mono-rhymed quatrains.
• syllabic, 14 syllable lines divided into hemistiches of 7 syllables each, often broken by caesura. There is no wiggle room in syllable count.
• mono-rhymed. The rhyme must be true rhyme, no slant rhyme, assonance or consonance.
Rhyme scheme aaaa, bbbb etc. Apparently this is a form for purists.

First Day of Chemo by Judi Van Gorder
The morning chill waits for her, the cold arrived in the night, 
she lies beneath her down quilt, still as a doe before flight.
The dreaded day has arrived, resolve mixed with fear holds tight.
She knows it’s what must be done and she swallows down her fright.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1022
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Ferguson Forecast (Cuaderna Via)

Black hands hold up signs that say (If) “No Justice!!” (then) “No Peace!! “
Ferguson’s a flash point now fueled by hatred of police.
Race baiters have their showcase, and they’re wanting no surcease.
No matter what the verdict – I know violence will increase.

Bigotry will flourish here, where race hatred’s been inbred.
I can’t tell where the truth lies, from what both have done and said.
Don’t take rage to city streets; stay with those you love instead,
for justice will not be served by assuring more are dead.

© Lawrencealot – November 22, 2014

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Cuaderna Via

Knittelvers

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Knittelvers means cudgel verse. Considered simple, sometimes awkward and often satirical, comical or vulgar, Knittelvers are a 15th century German stanzaic form which by the 17th century had become indicative of derogatory statements. Written in crude couplets the genre / form was rejected as clumsy by most reputed poets. But by the 18th century they were revived by such noted poets as Goethe, Schiller and Gottsched. Knittelvers continue to be effective in political satire and parodies.

The Knittelvers is:

*stanzaic, written in any number of couplets.

*rhymed. The rhyme can be true or assonant rhyme. aa bb cc dd etc.

*syllabic, originally the lines were long but narrowed down to either strict count of 8 syllable lines or free count of 8 or 9 syllable lines each. But by the 18th century two prominent variations emerged:

>a rhymed couplet of alternating an 8 syllable masculine ending line followed by a 9 syllable feminine ending line.

>or alternating rhymed couplets of 8 syllable masculine ending lines followed by a couplet of 9 syllable feminine ending lines.

*accentual, each line carries 4 stressed syllables.

How Many Times? by Judi Van Gorder

He said “sorry, it’s me not you.
I strayed and found somebody new.”
She knew before he spoke his confession 
he’d played long before this transgression.

 Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1076>
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource

German and Austrian Poetic Forms:

Bar Form, Dinggedicht, Goliardic Verse, Knittelvers, Minnesang, Nibelungen,Schuttelreim

My example

Riskless Investment (Knittelvers)

Bad money drives out good they say
The U.S. has both kinds today.
It’s true. I’m now collecting pennies
(pre-eighty-two) when I get any.
The copper content’s worth now twice
the value of their face! How nice.
Until there’s change, (or mass disorder)
I have become a penny hoarder.

© Lawrencealot – November 14, 2014

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Knittelvers)

Dinggedicht or Object Poem

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The Dinggedicht or Object Poem is a things poem. This is a genre of poetry in which communication of mood or thought is made through acute observation of things and symbolic concentration. It was introduced in the early 1900s by Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke while studying impressionist paintings. It is closely connected to the imagist movement of the same time. It appears the difference may be in the subject of the observation. The dinggedicht appears to be more likely to observe man-made articles while the imagist tends to observe more natural surroundings.

The Dinggedicht is:
• framed at the discretion of the poet.
• formed by acute observations of concrete images in the world around, expressing symbolically an event, social condition, mood or idea.

Paradise Adrift by Judi Van Gorder 1-3-05

water gently laps
at the edge
of the shore
where a soggy
passport lies open

face down
next to broken palms
and a tilted, scarred
kitchen chair,
one spindly leg buried deep
in the foam-covered sand

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1079>
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource

German and Austrian Poetic Forms:

Bar Form, Dinggedicht, Goliardic Verse, Knittelvers, Minnesang, Nibelungen,Schuttelreim

My attempt

Purpose Served

a shopping cart
pushed up onto
the apartment complex lawn

abandoned four blocks
from its store

containing now
an old microwave

© Lawrencealot – November 14, 2014

Ballata, Balete, or Dansa

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The Dansa, Balete, Ballata is:
• stanzaic, written most often in 3 quatrains which includes a refrain at the end of each stanza. Occasionally you may find more than 3 stanzas in the poem. The refrain is also added at the beginning of the 1st quatrain, making the 1st stanza a quintain.
• categorized as having no set meter. However during the period from which these verse forms emerged, quantitative or syllabic meters were most often present in the verse of these regions. The dominant Occitan meter was hexasyllabic (6 syllable) lines and the dominant Italian meter was the heptasyllabic (7 syllable) lines with the primary accent on the 6th syllable.
• rhymed, rhyme scheme AbbaA bbaA bbaA

Ballata by Judi Van Gorder

Da di DUM da di DUM DUM DUM
Hear the clacking of flying feet
striking a military beat
The catchy cadence comes up from
da di DUM da di DUM DUM DUM

Open flirting turns up the heat
when good music and dancers meet.
The heart becomes the kettle drum
da di DUM da di DUM DUM DUM

No one will be taking a seat
they slide and step and then repeat
they dance until their toes are numb,
da di DUM da di DUM DUM DUM.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=693#balada>
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My Example
Thinking Ought be Taught (Ballata)

What’s taught as fact may not be
In modern education,
at least in my own nation.
I’ve dumped much that was taught me.
What’s taught as fact may not be.

The theory of creation
not factoids by quotation
is really what it ought be.
What’s taught as fact may not be.

There should be separation
twixt fact and speculation.
Most students now are thought-free.
What’s taught as fact may not be.

© Lawrencealot – November 13, 2014

Visual template

This template is pattern for iambic meter, though it need not be.
Ballata

Double Glose

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Double Glose
Type: Structure, Repetitive Requirement, Other Requirement
Description: The double glose uses each line of the texte as a refrain, twice in the poem. One was done as a Stave where the line is both first and last of the glossing verse.
Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
Schematic: Varies

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/92.shtml>
My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his years of work on the wonderful Poetrybase resource.

Since there are numerable differences in the interpretation of the proper formal requirement of the Glose, sub-forms have been invented which specifically mandate requirements which might or might not be chosen when writing a Glose.

The glose originated in Spain, where it is known as the glosa.

I am presenting here only one reference to the Glose itself, from a site which appears no longer active, (November 2014) but which presented the following fine overview.

WHAT IS A GLOSA POEM?
The Glosa was used by poets of the Spanish court and dates back to the late 14th and early 15th century. For some reason, it has not been particularly popular in English. A search of the Internet search will uncovered a meager number of brief references to the form. From the limited information it is learned that the traditional structure has two parts. The first part is called the texte or cabeza. It consists of the first few lines (usually four) or the first stanza (usually a quatrain) from a well-known poem or poet. It has become permissible to use lines from a less well-known poet, or even from ones own verse.
The second part is the glose or glosa proper. This is a “gloss on,” an expansion, interpretation or explanation of the texte. The formal rule describes the glosa as consisting of four ten-line stanzas, with the consecutive lines of the texte being used as the tenth line (called the glossing) of each stanza. Furthermore, lines six and nine must rhyme with the borrowed tenth. Internal features such as length of lines, meter and rhyme are at the discretion of the poet. Examples of this will be found in this chapbook collection.
As with most poetic forms, unless dictated by strict contest requirements, poets have taken the liberty to vary the format. In addition to the glosa’s traditional ten-line stanzas, one will find 4-, 5- and 8-liners. They will be found written in free verse, with meter, and with rhyme. In the shorter variations. You will find variations in which the first line of each stanza (taken from the original texte) repeated again as the last line – added as a refrain. When the first line is repeated as the refrain at the end of a poem the stanza form is referred to as an Envelope.
Another variation of a short glosa poem has to do with the location of the borrowed line. It can be the first line, the last line, or one inserted into the body of the stanza. Yet another variation is the use of the first four lines of a prose piece as the texte.
 
Pasted from <http://www.poetry-nut.com/glosa_poetry.htm>

Restated specification for the Double Glose
The first part is called the texte or cabeza. It consists of the first few lines (usually four) or the first stanza (usually a quatrain) from a well-known poem or poet. It has become permissible to use lines from a less well-known poet, or even from ones own verse. It is presented as an epigram beneath the title of your own poem
The following Glose or Glosa proper is
Stanzaic: consisting of as many stanzas, as there are lines in your texte,
each having a line length of the poets choosing
Metered: With a consistent meter of the poet’s choosing
Rhymed or not with a pattern of the poet’s choosing
Formulaic: Each line of the texte shall be both the first and list lines of succeeding stanzas.
Related forms listed here: Glose, Double Glose, Top Glose

Example Poem
Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue
In phrases unwritten and measures unsung,
As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea,
Is the song that my spirit is singing to me.
-from Song of the Spirit
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue,
my thoughts dance and flutter on gossamer wings.
Elusively trapped in the webs I have spun
feelings that from my soul’s core have been wrung
in poems conceived when my heart soars and sings.
Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue.

In phrases unwritten and measures unsung,
I long to give birth to them, set them all free.
The source I must find from which they have sprung,
then gathers the jewels I will find there among,
hat I might expound them in my poetry.
In phrases unwritten and measures unsung.

As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea,
where voices of whales transverse distance and time,
all coming together in sweet harmony,
a harvest of gold born of my own psyche
are verses all written in metrical rhyme.
As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea.

Is the song that my spirit is singing to me
forever to be an elusive refrain
that haunts me and taunts me with sweet melody
while mem’ry deserts me,  ignores every plea?
I cannot quite grasp or its beauty retain:
Is the song that my spirit is singing to me.

© Patricia Curtis, 2011

Pasted from <https://poetscollective.org/blog/2014/11/song-of-the-spirit/>

Visual template for this Double Glose
This poet chose sestet stanzas in catalectic amphibrach tetrameter,
With each stanza’s rhyme scheme being AbaabA.

Double Glose

Antiphon

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Antiphon, Latin, antiphona derived from Greek antiphonon, sounding against, responsive sound, singing opposite, alternate chant; is a response from a congregation or chorus sung or recited before and after a Psalm verse read or sung by a cantor. The phrase which serves as the antiphon text contains not only the fundamental message of the psalm to which it is sung, but also brings attention to the point of view from which it is to be understood. It is central to the liturgical and mystical meaning of the psalm with regard to the occasion or feast day on which it is sung. As a poetic genre it is a poem with a responsive refrain.

The Antiphon is:
• stanzaic, alternating short-long-short stanzas. The response-refrain is in short stanzas, no longer than a couplet. The alternating verse stanza may be structured at the discretion of the poet, most often in quatrains.
• originally to be sung, therefore although no specific meter is designated, it should carry a lyrical rhythm.
• rhymed or unrhymed at the discretion of the poet.
• composed with the responsive refrain containing the central theme from a particular point of view.

Antiphon by George Herbert 1633

Cho. Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
—————– My God and King.

Vers. The heav’ns are not too high,
—— His praise may thither flie:
—— The earth is not too low,
—— His praises there may grow.

Cho. Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
—————– My God and King.

Vers. The church with psalms must shout,
—— No doore can keep them out:
—– But above all, the heart
—— Must bear the longest part.

Cho. Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
—————— My God and King.

How great is He? by Judi Van Gorder

Pure are the colors of tulips in bloom,
true yellows and reds, set against green,
all shades and grades, brilliant at noon.

How great is He, sire of all that’s seen?

The sun dries the rain soaked earth
while warblers fuss and preen
and His garden sprouts new birth.

How great is He, sire of all that’s seen?

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1119
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Confused

Who Named This Form (Antiphon)

Every day I find a form
that ancient poets wrote.
In trying hard to conform
It seems I often fail, you’ll note.

If it seems like Greek to you, alas it well may be.

“Who named these forms”, someone asked,
Teachers or some Polish nerd?
Don’t take all those folks to task.
It might be Latin that you heard.

If it seems like Greek to you, alas it well may be.

© Lawrencealot – November 10, 2014

Wheelchair Angel Style

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Wheelchair Angel Style 
A new form of poetry created to honor 
Poet mike44  aka  Author  Michael L Schuh
Who we now know as the wheel-chair angel… 
It consists of 25 lines
Starting with head syllable count of 2/2/3/4/3/2/1/3 
to create the impression of the back of a man 
sat in his wheel chair
5/8/8/10/8/8/8/8/8/8/ these line represent the chair
Then 4/ 4/6/6/4/4 split to represent two wheels
Then a 10 syllable line to represents the ground
Content must include wheel chair. 
Created by Pat Simpson 3/10.2009

Pasted from http://the.a.b.c.of.poetry.styles.patthepoet.com/T2Z.html
Many Thanks to Christina R Jussaume for her work on the Poetry Styles site.
 

• The Wheelchair Angel Style is a poem that attempts to create silhouette shape of a man in a wheelchair. Found at Poetry Styles this invented verse form was introduced by Pat Simpson to honor poet, Michael L. Schuh and who suggests the content include reference to a wheelchair. It was found at Poetry Styles.

The Wheelchair Angel Style is:
○ a poem in 25 lines.
○ syllabic, 2-2-3-4-3-2-1-3 5-8-8-8-10-8-8-8-8-8-8 4-4-6-4-4 10. L20 thru L24 are split, to create the illusion of wheels.

x x
x x
x x x
x x x x
x x x
x x
x
x x x
x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x ——- x x
x x ——- x x
x x x —– x x x
x x ——- x x
x x ——- x x
x x x x x x x x x x

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1001#wheel
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example
Wheels (Wheelchair Angle Style)

Bodies
broken
or diseased
paralyzing
structural
muscles
thus
stealing our
means to move about.
So they built chairs that men could push, 
then chairs that we could move ourselves.
Self-propelled wheelchairs are being
replaced by electric powered models
augmented by smart control chips
which now enable longer trips.
The chairs get better every year
with models made for all terrain
and competing in rugged sports.
Power soccer’s the most extreme.
   For men                   won’t bow
 while mind                   still works
we have                     a life to live,
 wheelchairs                      assist
   and man                   persists.
Expect science to obsolete the chair.

© Lawrencealot – October 31, 2014

Pantun

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Malaysia is at the most southern tip of Euroasia and is split by the South China Sea. The country borders Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. The history of poetry in Malaysia goes back to the 14th century and is classified by the language in which it is written, Malay or national poetry, regional (indigenous) poetry and sectional (mostly English or French) poetry. Poetry in Malaysia is highly developed and uses many forms.

• The Pantun was at one time an integral part of Malaysian life, used to propose marriage, to tell a proverb, or to celebrate just about any occasion, even shared between warriors about to battle. I was surprised at how unlike it is from its French variation the Pantoum, which I had previously believed was synonymous with the 15th century Malaysian form. The Pantun is said to go back much further in oral tradition but I could find no agreement on how far or what source, one refers to it as an ancient fishing song. 

The Pantun is a poem of two halves almost unrelated. The first half, the pembayan (shadow) sets the rhythm and rhyme of the whole poem, and the second half, the maksud (meaning) delivers the message. The form has been referred to as a riddle. 

These poems were to be exchanged between individuals, not recited to an audience. 

The Pantun is
○ most often a poem in a single quatrain made up of two complete couplets.
○ syllabic, all lines are of the same length, lines are written in 8 to 12 syllables each.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme abab.
○ written in two complete couplets. The first , the shadow is to set the structure but its focus may be quite different from the second couplet, the meaning in which the message is set.
○ less commonly written in structural variations, still retaining the shadow and meaning components:
§ The shortest is called Pantun Dua Kerat in 2 unrhymed lines.
§ Also written as a sixain made up of 2 tercets, rhyme abcabc.
§ And an octave rhymed abcdabcd.
§ sometimes written in three quatrains rhymed abab abab abab the poem turned on only 2 rhymes.
§ The longest is Pantun Enam Belas Kerat in 16 lines made up of 2 octaves rhyme abcdabcd abcdabcd.
The Choices We Make by Judi Van Gorder

Do I ignore or heed the voices,
the reminder that often festers?
We are all a product of choices, 
our own and our forgotten ancestors. 

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1037
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

OCD? (Pantun)

My wife – the stove, a strong compunction
a life-long habit, I believe.
She checks the stove, its knobs, their function
a second time before we leave.

© Lawrencealot – October 23, 2014

Visual template

Pantun

Split Couplet

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Split Couplet
Type:  Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Stanzaic
Description:  Rhymed two line form with the first line in iambic pentameter and the second in iambic dimeter. One variation has it with iambic monometer and iambic trimeter. We’re sure that just about any rhymed couplets of consistently unequal lines will fall into this category.
Schematic:
Rhyme: aa bb cc, etc.

Meter:
xX xX xX xX xX
xX xX

or

xX
xX xX xX
Rhythm/Stanza Length:

Pasted from http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/002/294.shtml
My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his years of work on the wonderful Poetrybase resource.

My example

Babble (Split Couplet)

It’s nice
if one can be concise.
Verbose
is less than grandiose.

© Lawrencealot – October 10, 2014