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 Rosemary is an invented verse form that uses envelope quatrains. It was introduced by Viola Berg.
The Rosemary is:
○ a poem in 12 lines, made up of a rhymed couplet, 2 envelope quatrains followed by a rhymed couplet.
○ metric, iambic pentameter.
○ rhymed aabccbdeedff.
○ L4,L5 and L8,L9 are indented.
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
Specificity (Rosemary)
I wandered as I walked and wondered where
I was today, and did I even care??
Like Jack “none” Reacher twixt his many tasks*
My days unfolded just by circumstance
and if you met me it would be by chance.
I seldom answered questions that were asked.
I hitch-hiked here, and don’t know where here is.
I’m somewhere where I’ve never been before,
and glancing see a sign above a door.
It posts the proper answer to the quiz.
The letters, boldly printed make it clear;
they proudly make the point that “You are Here.”
© Lawrencealot – September 22, 2014
*Jack (no middle initial) Reacher is a protagonist in Lee Child novels that I cannot resist.
Photo taken by ea of allpoetry.com
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