Séadna (shay’-na) is Gaelic for passage.The Séadnas are dan direach or direct meter forms which alternate syllable count from line to line. They are Celtic or ancient Irish Verse Forms, written with cywddydd (harmony of sound) and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began). Séadna (named for its main character.) is also an old Irish folktale by Peadar Ó Laoghaire (1839-1920), published in 1904 which is a favorite for beginning readers of Gaelic and is not written in verse.
• Séadna Mòr (shay’-na mor) stanza is:
○ the same as Séadna.
○ except L2 and L4 end in three-syllable words instead of monosyllable words.
x x x x x x (x a)
x a x x (x x b)
x x x b x x (x c)
x b x c (x x b)
And The Winners are . . . by Barbara Hartman
Cliff-swallows careen in between
twin pillars of portico.
Flights ferry mud balls for cement
— birds’ descent blights bungalow.
Gourd-shaped nests sprout out from stucco,
constant chatter — tremolo.
Smears and splatters on walls defy
hose. “Please don’t,” cry cliff-swallows
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1168#mheadhanach
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
Specifications restated:
Séadna Mòr (shay’-na mor) stanza is:
written in any number of quatrains.
syllabic 8-7-8-7.
written with L1 and L3, 2 syllable end words; L2 and L4, 3 syllable end words.
rhymed. L2 and L4 end rhyme, L3 rhymes with the stressed word preceding the final word of L4.
composed with alliteration in each line, the final word of L4 alliterating with the preceding stressed word.
The final syllable of L1 alliterates with the first stressed word of L2.
My example
No Sale Buk (Forn: Séadna Mòr )
Inflated by boldness assumed,
and consumed and debated
by some sycophants who perceived,
perhaps wise wit created.
Overrated, you have stated,
Yes I still sit unsated.
His sad self-promotion fizzled
and found him not inflated.
© Lawrencealot – January 19, 2015
Visual template
