Pathways for the Poet by Viola Berg (1977) is a book for and by educators. Classic poetic forms as well as many invented forms which appear to have been invented as teaching tools or exercizes for use in workshops or classrooms are included. Some of these invented forms I have found in use in internet poetry communities, a testament to their staying power. On this page I include the metric invented forms found there in which appear to be exclusive to the community of educators from whom Ms. Berg drew her support. I have yet to find these in any other source. I have included the syllabic invented forms on a separate page. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.
• Dr Stella is a verse using sequential rhyme*. It was developed by James Gray in honor of Dr Stella Woodall who was at one time president of the American Poetry League and editor of a couple of poetry magazines.
The Dr Stella is:
an octave made up of 2 quatrains.
metered, alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter.
rhymed, abcdabcd. L2 and L6 have feminine end words.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1199#dionol
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
*This is also known as external rhyme or remote rhyme.
My example
Nail-Biting (Dr Stella)
Two golden-agers in a room
complained about mate’s habits.
“It irritates and drives me mad,
I need to find relief”.
“I know the way to cure your groom
as I did mine, dad-nabbit.
Do what I did to my old Brad
and simply hide his teeth.”
© Lawrencealot – September 6, 2014
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