Tag Archives: 4 lines or multiple

Alcaic Stanza poetry form

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Alcaics “gives an impression of wonderful vigour and spontaneity”. The 1911 Edition Encyclopedia. The stanzaic form is attributed to the poet Alceaus 6th century BC and is an Aeolic classic meter.

Alcaics stanzaic form is:
• stanzaic, any number of quatrains may be written.
• metric, quantitative verse. The first 3 lines are 5 metric feet and the last line, 4 metric feet with a specific combination of trochees and dactyls. There are variations on the rhythm of the Alcaics quatrain but the following (one source refers to it as the dactyl Alcaic quatrain) seems to me the most common as demonstrated in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Milton.

(acephalous refers to the missing 1st syllable of an iambic foot)

L1 & L2 acephalous iamb, 2 trochees and 2 dactyls;
L3 acephalous iamb, 4 trochees;
L4 2 dactyls 2 trochees in that order

Quantitative Verse
L-Ls-Ls-Lss-Lss
L-Ls-Ls-Lss-Lss
L-Ls-Ls-Ls-Ls
Lss-Lss-Ls-Ls

Milton Part I by Alfred Lord Tennyson 1891
O mighty-mouth’d inventor of harmonies,
O skill’d to sing of Time or Eternity,
God-gifted organ-voice of England,
Milton, a name to resound for ages;
Whose Titan angels, Gabriel, Abdiel,
Starr’d from Jehovah’s gorgeous armouries,
Tower, as the deep-domed empyrean
Rings to the roar of an angel onset–
Me rather all that bowery loneliness,
The brooks of Eden mazily murmuring,
And bloom profuse and cedar arches
Charm, as a wanderer out in ocean,
Where some refulgent sunset of India
Streams o’er a rich ambrosial ocean isle,
And crimson-hued the stately palm-woods
Whisper in odorous heights of even.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1250
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example poem

Middle Class Morass (Alcaics)

O Yes! The rich have bankable balances;
O Yes! they choose the candidate’s policies.
Not those for whom the dole is dribbled,
though they contribute the votes those men need.

© Lawrencealot – August 3 , 2014
Visual Template
(4 lines or multiple)
Alcaics

The Thorley

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• The Thorley is a stanzaic form patterned after the poem Chant for Reapers, by English poet, Wilfred Thorley 1878.

The Thorley is:
○ stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
○ metered, accentual with alternating lines of L1 & L3 with 5 heavy stesses and L2 & L4 with 3 heavy stresses. The trimeter lines have feminine endings.
○ unrhymed.

Chant for Reapers by Wilfred Thorley
WHY do you hide, O dryads! when we seek
Your healing hands in solace?
Who shall soften like you the places rough?
Who shall hasten the harvest?
Why do you fly, O dryads! when we pray
For laden boughs and blossom?
Who shall quicken like you the sapling trees?
Who shall ripen the orchards?
Bare in the wind the branches wave and break,
The hazel nuts are hollow.
Who shall garner the wheat if you be gone?
Who shall sharpen his sickle?
Wine have we spilt, O dryads! on our knees
Have made you our oblation.
Who shall save us from dearth if you be fled?
Who shall comfort and kindle?
Sadly we delve the furrows, string the vine
Whose flimsy burden topples.
Downward tumble the woods if you be dumb,
Stript of honey and garland.
Why do you hide, O dryads! when we call,
With pleading hands up-lifted?
Smile and bless us again that all be well;
Smile again on your children.
Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=668>
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of effort creating this fine PMO resource.
My Example

My Nose (The Thorley)

Say what you will about my larger nose
I seldom think about it.
It anchors well the other facial parts
a package deal, I reckon.

Note: my nose is notable I think
spread out long and spacious.
Seldom seeing it myself allows
measured self-contentment.

© Lawrencealot – August 2, 2014

Note: Stanza 1 is iambic, stanza 2 is trochaic. Both meet the accentual requirement of The Thorley.

Visual Template
Any arrangement with 5 and three stresses for the respective lines will work. This template shows two common meters.

The Thorley

Violette

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• The Violette is a stanzaic form with a rhyme scheme similar to the Zéjel without the mundanza, introduced by Viola Gardner. Line 4 carries a linking rhyme from stanza to stanza.
The Violette is:
○ stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
○ syllabic, 6/6/6/4 syllables per line.
○ rhymed, feminine rhyme used aaab cccb dddb etc b is a linking rhyme from stanza to stanza.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1882#baccresiez
My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO
My example poem

Fairy Trails     (Violette)
I followed her that day
to where the fairies play,
I thought ‘twould be okay.
She ran from me.
I touched her; thought I’d earned
that for which I’d so yearned
but with that touch I turned
into a tree.
As seasons’ colors changed
with words and thoughts exchanged
the fairy maid arranged
to set me free.
With nothing more to lose,
each year she brings me clues
and monthly she will choose
to sit with me.
© Lawrencealot – April 7, 2014
Visual Template

Double Seven

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This interesting form was created by Lisa La Grange of Allpoetry.
It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of quatrains.
Each quatrain will have its own abab rhyme pattern,
Where the a-rhymes will always be feminine.
It is isosyllabic, each line being seven syllables.
It is metric, each line having two metric feet, the first foot being four syllables, and the second foot being three syllables.
The a-rhyme lines consist of a secundus paeon + an amphibrach: da DUM da da / da DUM da
The b-rhyme lines consist of a tertius paeon + an anapest
 da da DUM da / da da DUM
So the meter of a stanza is thus:
da DUM da da da DUM da
da da DUM da, da da DUM
da DUM da da da DUM da
da da DUM da da da DUM.
Example Poem
Just-Married(Double Seven)
I wonder if the bridegroom
has accepted yet the fact
that access to the bathroom
will be science, inexact.
I she wants to go shopping
and he’s planned a poker game,
I think that he’ll be copping
friends a plea they’ll know is lame.
But he may find his laundry
looks much better than before
and find there is no quandary
for it’s him she does adore.
© Lawrencealot – February 24, 2014
Visual Template
Where the red letters indicate lines with feminine rhyme.

LaGrange Quatrain

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 La Grange Quatrain created by Lisa La Grange of AllPoetry
Syllabic: 8/7/8/7
 Rhyme scheme: abab                   
Meter: Tertius paeon
dee dee DUM dee, dee dee DUM dee                                
dee dee DUM dee, dee dee DUM                                
dee dee DUM dee, dee dee DUM dee                                
dee dee DUM dee, dee dee DUM
Note alternating feminine and masculine rhymes.
 Example Poem
 
Forfeited Opportunity     (La Grange Quatrain)
Undeserved, he’s still receiving
approbation from the left.
While the right is past deceiving
and he forces wide the cleft.
A white guilt, earned by grandfathers
and augmented by black pride
brought to office one who bothers
not at all laws to abide.
Our first black to claim the title
has mis-used the office throne
gaining wealth as though entitled.
redistributes what’s our own.
Were I black I’d be resenting
the destruction he’s allowed;
this historic representing
should have made all races proud.
© Lawrencealot – November 2,2013
Poem my be any multiple of 4 lines.
Visual Template
 

Loose Sapphic

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There are variations of the Sapphic Stanza and I have chosen the Loose Sapphic form created by Marie Marshall. The form is composed over four lines, the first three being hendecasyllabic and the fourth being pentasyllabic.
The focus is on syllabic meter rather than accentual giving the poet more room to explore poetical device and grammatical schema within the verse structure. From the creator’s own examples I have found the poems to be more vibrant and dramatic than their strictly metric counterparts.
Using ‘X’ to represent each syllable the schema of the Loose Sapphic form can be shown as thus:
X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X
Example Poem
Lady Bird Adrift

My intent to fly by-and-by was boosted.
I’m content to flutter by the butterfly
effect.  Some butterfly in Balboa flapped
boldly days ago.
A seagull here an eagle there added puffs
against the calm.  A heated hillside thermal
energy aggregated puff-puff forces-
calm contingencies.
I’ll leave Louise and Lester nibbling aphid
nosh, and catch this seed in transit through garden’s
wide expanse.  I may deplane any time or
merely take a chance.
I’m smarter than your average bug because a
beetle, not a bug be I.  This subterfuge
could save my life– wasps find me tasty and look
to see just me fly.
© Lawrencealot – June 26, 2012

Swap Quatrain

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The Swap Quatrain was created by Lorraine M. Kanter. Each stanza in the poem must be a quatrain (four lines) where the first line is reversed in the fourth line. In addition, line 2 must rhyme with line 1, and line 3 must rhyme with line 4 and so on, BUT not repeat the same rhyming pattern on subsequent stanzas. Rhyming pattern: aabb, ccdd  and so on.

Example

(Swap Quatrain)

Heartfelt  

His clothes did stink, his coat was old
He came inside to leave the cold.
He needed food he needed drink.
His coat was old his clothes did stink.

Said youngest boy, “Give me a loan.”
He had one dollar of his own.
I thought he wanted fries or toy.
“Give me a loan,” said youngest boy,

To his one buck he added mine
boy calculating, said, “That’s fine
for that old guy down on his luck.”
He added mine to his one buck.

I was so proud to see him give.
His heart showed us all how to live.
He did not ask, “Was that allowed?”
to see him give, I was so proud.

© Lawrencealot – December 30, 2012

Visual Template

Monotetra

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The monotetra is a new poetic form developed by Michael Walker. Each stanza contains four lines in monorhyme. Each line is in tetrameter (four metrical feet) for a total of eight syllables. What makes the monotetra so powerful as a poetic form, is that the last line contains two metrical feet, repeated. It can have as few as one or two stanzas, or as many as desired.
Stanza Structure:
Line 1: 8 syllables; A1
Line 2: 8 syllables; A2
Line 3: 8 syllables; A3
Line 4: 4 syllables, repeated; A4, A4  (8/8/8/8)
Example Poem
Collaboration
My gramp brought me a valentine.
To give to mommy and it’s just fine.
I’m four years old and it’s all mine.
A valentine. A valentine.
It’s got a heart and teddy bear
To show my mom how much I care.
A tiny voice came from nowhere,
“I’ve got no flair.” “I’ve got no flair.”
Somehow that card said words to me.
“I’m not as fine as I can be.
I need more personality”
that she can see, that she can see.”
“With your help lad, I’ll be much more.
I’ll be a card that she’ll adore.”
I’ll not be common anymore!
Accept this chore.  Accept this chore.”
With a crayon I wrote just “my”
before “Mom”.   She is my own, that’s why.
I signed Tommy then heard card sigh.
I don’t know why, I don’t know why.
The card she’s kept for all this time.
A priceless card that cost a dime.
Mom says I made the value climb
with my first rhyme, with my first rhyme.
© Lawrencealot – February 9, 2013
Visual Template

Partenza Represa

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The Partenza Represa created by: Dawn Slanker
It contains any number of four line stanzas which can rhyme or not rhyme
depending on preference. The most important features of this form are that
it maintains strict syllable line count of your choosing:
8*6*8*6, 8*8*8*8, 10*10*10*10, etc…and that each line must begin
(anywhere you like) with the last portion of the preceding line.
Also, it’s important to point out that you have the option of either
continuing the first line of each stanza with a refrain from the line
preceding it or you may choose to begin an entirely new line for each stanza.
IMHO that makes this one of the most versatile forms I have yet addressed:
Any meter, any line length, any or no rhyme, word refrains
Example Poem
They Fart Melodies
Some folks believe their shit don’t stink.
Their shit don’t  stink, some people think.
Some people think, It seems to  me,
It seems to me- You may agree.
Suggest they’ve faltered and you’ll see.
You’ll see amazment- “What?  Not me!
Not me, the fault is in your view.
Your  view if critical– untrue!”
Their poop’s foil-wrapped, it has no smell.
It has no smell, a fool can tell.
A  fool can tell they’re always right.
They’re always right; therein’s our plight.
Fawn, applaud, and give them respect.
Respect even what’s not correct.
Correct them once and you’ll be banned.
You’ll be banned: You don’t understand
© Lawrencealot – April 30, 2012
Example visual template
Partenza Represa

Triquatrain

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The form name “Triquatrain” was most likely contrived by Robert L. Huntsman as found listed on shadowpoetry.com. However he most likely stole the credit by giving a name to simple didactic verse. 
This is obvious because “Jack and Jill” was written in the 1760s.
There is also reference to it in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the end of act three: “Jack shall have Jill; Nought shall go ill.”  (Just a little history there) 
It is a quatrain poem in tri-rhyme with a specific rhyming pattern (see below). 
Lines 1 and 3 have internal rhyme whereas lines 2 and 4 do not. 
Rhyme Pattern:
(a,a)
b 
(c,c)
b 
(d,d)
e 
(f,f)
e
(g,g) 
h 
(i,i)
h
Example Poem:
 
Fred Meets Trixie
Now Fred was nice; he worked in vice
and could not be corrupt.
Take the money, have a honey.
He made them all shut-up.
He closed down rooms that reeked of fumes,
that turned out to be meth.
He smashed their tools, then told the fools,
“Wages of sin are death.”
Prostitution?  His solution:
Arrest each whore and John.
So straight he played, that I’m afraid.
Some councilmen are gone.
Some lovely chicks had turned some dicks,
(Detectives),  I should say.
But, no cutie, or real beauty
Could cause our Fred to sway.
Business was down all over town,
confession booths were slow.
The internet was busy yet
it brought no local dough.
Then just by chance one day Fred glanced
across the cafe floor.
As Trixie came (the perfect dame)
right through the joint’s front door.
Passions promised in some fashion
many times thru the years,
It seems  absurd without a word
said,  she had meshed his gears!
After they talked, together walked,
She put him to the test.
“Play on my range,” she said,” for change
is as good as arrest.”
 
 
Visual Template