Category Archives: music

Seguidilla

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The Seguidilla began as a popular dance song of Spain. The verse form was established and branched into variations by the 17th century. It has an alternating long short rhythm.

The Seguidilla is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of 2 part septets. (7 lines)
• syllabic, 7-5-7-5 : 5-7-5 per line. There is a slight pause between L4 and L5 suggesting L4 should be end-stopped.
• rhymed by assonance xaxabxb or xaxabab. x being unrhymed. True rhyme is generally not used.
• composed with a volta or change in thought between L4 and L5.
• sometimes serves as a conclusion for another verse.

Pase Doble by Judi Van Gorder

The rapid click of slick heels
pounding on the boards,
play a staccato death knell 
for life never mourned.
The red of his cape,
a splash of blood on the floor,
the matador’s fate. .

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1014
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Cueca Chilena Dance

Cueca Chilena Dance (Form: Seguidilla)

He with boots and spurs and cape,
She in flowing dress,
(Cumbia, perhaps), and heels.
Hat upon his head.
Both will kick and stamp
their feet and twirl kerchiefs while
caught up in the dance.

© Lawrencealot – January 21, 2015

Photo Credit https://latindancehistory.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/la-cueca/

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Seguidilla

Flamenca

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Spanish Poetry
Flamenca or Seguidilla Gitana carries a fast staccato rhythm. It is a variation of the Seguidilla. 

The Flamenca is:
• stanzaic, can be written in any number of quintains.
• syllabic, 6-6-5-6-6 syllables per line to imitate the rapid click of the heels of a dancer.
• L2 and L5 assonate. (same vowel sounds)

Song of the Matador by Judi Van Gorder

In a dark cantina 
a twelve string guitar keens 
a feverish dirge, 
tones of glory and fame, 
the matador’s heartbeat.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1024#flamenca
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Sight vs. Sound

Sight vs. Sound (Flamenca)

The guitarist speeds up
as faster castanets
amid a swirl of
ruffles and pokadots
clicks time with quickened feet.

Sounds compete with color
both a fluid flurry,
pleasing ear and eye.
Staccato, percussive,
with smoothness overlaid.

© Lawrencealot – December 14, 2014

Photo credit: Spanish Flamenco Dancer Painting – fabianperez.com

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Flamenca

MLou Chanson

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 This form was created by Mary Lou Healy, who write on Allpoetry.com as MLou.
It was patterned after the Italian song “Canto Della Terra” as expressed by Mary Lou in her own poem Chanson.

So true to the song is the form of her poem that she completed it using a tail, similar to a Bob and Wheel, which gives great freedom to other poets trying this form.

Chanson by Mary Lou Healy

We sing the earth
on waves of music lifting
spirits to the stars
and over oceans drifting…
days and nights
that through an hourglass sifting
turn seasons round
and our bright future gifting…

We sing of joy
a life of love beginning
rooted to earth
yet wings of beauty spinning
through lucent air
where blowing leaves are pinning
tomorrow’s hopes
and all our dreams of winning…

to the sun
the light, the light…
the sun, the sun,
the sun….

Pasted from http://allpoetry.com/poem/6701067-Chanson-by-Mlou

The Mlou Chanson is
A poem of 20 or 21 lines
Stanzaic: Two octaves plus a tail of four on five short lines
Metered: Alternating iambic dimeter and iambic trimeter for the octave
one or two stressed syllabls per line for the tail
Rhymed: xaxaxaxa xbxbxbxb for the octave, poet’s discretion for the tail
the octave rhymes are feminine.

My example

Lets Sing

Let’s Sing!  (Mlou Chanson)

We tend to sing
a song when we are happy
I tend to sing
alone because I’m crappy;
but none-the-less
the tunes I choose are snappy,
and frequently
I learned them from my pappy.

A flashmob meets
intending on performing
and often you
won’t notice while they’re forming
as into malls
or avenues they’re swarming
but when they start
you’ll find your heart is warming.

They’ll bring
a grin or smile
and sing, sing, sing
for just a while.

© Lawrencealot – November 3, 2014

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(Note: Any rhyme scheme okay for the tail)

MLou Chanson

Duodora

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  • Duodora is a quatorzain that doesn’t claim to be a sonnet. Written in 2 septets, L1 of the first septet is repeated as L1 of the 2nd septet. The form was created by Dora Tompkins who was an editor of the Nutmegger, a poetry magazine published in Connecticut.The Duodora is:
    • a quatorzain made up of 2 septets.
    • syllabic,  4/6/5/5/5/10/10 syllables per line.
    • rhymed Axxxxxb Axxxxxb L1 is repeated as a refrain that begins the 2nd stanza. x is unrhymed.
My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO
My example poem
The Sailor and the Rose – 1980        (Duodora)
A round platform
occupied the center
of two acres of
polished hard wood floor.
As a young sailor
from a small town, I was already awed
by the hundreds of couples I suppose.
A round platform
became a stage for a
volunteer to sing
one song with the band.
I was never close
enough to see her. But we stopped dancing
and some (like me) cried as she sang “The Rose.”
© Lawrencealot – March 22, 2014
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