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. …. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.
The Louise is a stanzaic form that seems to be an exercise in using feminine and masculine endings. It was created by Viola Berg.
The Louise is:
stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
metered. L1, L2, L3 are pentameter (5 metric feet), L4 is iambic dimeter (2 metric feet)
composed with L1 and L3 with feminine (unstressed) endings.
rhymed. L2 and L4 rhyme. Rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb etc x being unrhymed.
Land Ho! by Judi Van Gorder
So long ago, adventure for a sailor,
with well supplied, staunch ships Columbus sailed
without a means to navigate the water
New land they hailed.
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.
My example
Commanding Stuff (Louise)
The lightning slicing through the sky can frighten
the most established and contented folk
but others wait for thunder’s crash proclaiming
it’s not a joke.
© Lawrencealot – September 15, 2014
Picture credit: Theresa Clark from Pinterest
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