Triple Stance

The form was created by Lisa La Grange, writing on Allpoetry.com.

The Triple Stance is:

  • Stanzaic: Consisting of any number of sestets
  • Metered: Each stanza consisting of 4 lines of iambic dimeter, and 2 line of iambic trimeter.
  • Rhyme Pattern: abcabc, where the a-rhymes are feminine.

My Example

Form: Triple Stance

What Knees

My sister fretting
about her knees –
“They’re knobby, don’t you think?”
“What I am betting’s
that no one sees
them; have another drink.”

“So stop your loathing
cus I’ll make book
one thing is crystal clear,
If you’ve no clothing
they’ll never look
below your thighs my dear.”

© Lawrencealot – July 6, 2015

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Cavatina

The Cavatina is a simple rhymed verse. One source, Poet’s Garret, indicates the poetic form originated in Italy in the 14th century. The same poetic frame is also described in Pathways for a Poet by Viola Berg. The frame is suited to both reflective verse which leads to a strong climax or for light verse.

The term can be found in the dictionary as used in 1830 to describe an opertic solo shorter than an aria. On the internet it primarily refers to a classical guitar piece. The term Cavatina does come from the Italian “cavata” which is the production or extraction of sound from an instrument or the Latin “cavus ” to dig or hollow out.

The Cavatina is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains made up of uneven couplets and finally ending in a declamatory couplet.
• metered, alternating iambic pentameter and iambic dimeter lines. The end declamatory couple is iambic pentameter.
• rhymed. Rhyme scheme xaxa xbxb xcxc, etc. dd. x being unrhymed. The end couplet is rhymed.

Eye of the Beholder by Judi Van Gorder
I never thought my Mom was very pretty–
the glasses ruled.
It was Dad we always deemed the stunning one–
the ladies drooled.
So tall with sea green eyes and wavy hair
he’d win your heart.
We all adored this playful handsome man
who stood apart,
and oh, so smart, he knew that Mom was first class,
her beauty shined right through the wire frames and glass.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1155
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
My example poem

Mad Dogs and Foolish Men Go Out in the Noonday Rain (Cavatina)

My doggie wants to take a walk today
despite the rain.
My wife says “Don’t you dare you foolish man,
just use your brain.”

My dog is clever, knows his mind and says,
“Let us converse.
We’ve walked in wind and strolled through snow, you know,
and that’s much worse.”

At times, you toss the ball into the lake.
Don’t I get wet?
Let’s go! Let’s play I need my exercise,
did you forget?”

I’m sold.  But mommy’s washed and waxed the floor!
We’ll play inside, for daddy knows the score.

© Lawrencealot – August 5, 2014

Shadorma

I’m not willing to call this a Spanish form, even though it could be;  it was more likely invented by a disenchanted poet tired of all of the differing and conflicting versions of Haiku popping up.  In the next three lines I’ll list everything we KNOW about the form, then some of the sources you might find interesting, including a real beautiful work by Amera.
It is stanzaic, consisting of one or more sestets
It is syllabic 3/5/3/3/7/5
Rhyme and meter are optional
The Shadorma is a Spanish poetic form made up of a stanza of six lines
(sestet)  with no set rhyme scheme.
 It is a syllabic poem with a meter of 3/5/3/3/7/5.
It can have many stanzas, as long as each follows the meter.
Little is known about this poetic style’s origins and history
but it is used by many modern poets today.
This variation of the haiku, which is evident by its syllable pattern,
can be seen in use in many writing venues.
The Shadorma is a poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza (or sestet). The form is alleged to have originated in Spain. Each stanza has a syllable count of three syllables in the first line, five syllables in the second line, three syllables in the third and fourth lines, seven syllables in the fifth line, and five syllables in the sixth line (3/5/3/3/7/5) for a total of 26 syllables. A poem may consist of one stanza, or an unlimited number of stanzas (a series of shadormas).
It has been suggested[by whom?] that the shadorma is not a historical poetic form as it is alleged to be by those who have recently revived and popularized it. There is no evidence of extant early Spanish poetry using this form. Further, the word shadorma does not appear in Spanish-language dictionaries, and no examples of the early usage of the form appear in poetry textbooks or anthologies. Further, there is no literary criticism regarding its history in Spanish literature. Considering this, the alleged history of the shadorma may be modern hoax or the poetic equivalent of an urban legend. However, the shadorma has been used by many modern writers[citation needed] and is a popular writing exercise in creative writing programs and workshops.
The Shadorma Joke
November 2, 2012 by Sabio Lantz
The Shadorma Joke
Shadorma!
But who’da known it.
Started as
a small lie.
Now has widely multiplied.
Myth Poetica!
Background:  Posted for: Poets United, my “poem” above, is a “Shadorma”.   The “Shadorma” is purported to be a haiku-like Spanish poetic form with one or more stanza of six lines (sestet) with 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines respectively and no set rhyme scheme.
But here is the point of my poem: I can’t find any evidence for the history of this “form”. Did someone make it up?  Is it just an internet-myth and not a historical fact?  Poetry sites that I have found, just echo each other saying “Little is known about this poetic style’s origins and history but it is used by many modern poets today.”
Make Me
Close the door
And turn off the light
Come adore
Mi amore
In fantasy and delight
Come my love, explore
For so long
I’ve waited for you
Come along
We belong
Entwined in a love for two
Come… and make me strong
Close the door
And lie here with me
Make me soar
Fill my core
Come take me to ecstasy
Make me want you more
Example Poem
He Did It!
Shadorma
is a recent work
invented
if you will
by a bored U.S. mail clerk
who held verse in scorn.
Haiku, hell!
They’re Japan’s, and short.
They can’t rhyme-
that’s a crime;
let this form be my retort.
This is English, sport.
Without rhyme
first, and then I tried
and here I’m
satisfied
with plain alternating rhyme.
I’ll change every time.
Interlaced
when it’s not end-placed
Like this you
Kiss the line
below- oft called internal,
but that’s wrong you know.
Shadorma
sounded Spanish though
Korean
it is not.
I’m content to let it go
The form’s pretty hot.
© Lawrencealot – December 9, 2013
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Ridotto

This form was invented by Thomas Horton of Allpoetry.
It’s called a RIDOTTO, from the Italian for “reduced.”  In a ridotto, you choose a number of syllables for your first line (x).  Your second line should be a perfect rhyming couplet with one more syllable (x+1).  The third line takes on a new rhyme, and has one fewer syllable than the first one (x-1).  Line four rhymes with line 3, and has one fewer syllable (x, or [x-1]+1).  This continues until the poem is reduced to a couplet of one syllable followed by two.
Here’s an example:
FIRST KISS  (a ridotto)
The way the soft light broke          —-> (6)
Through the branches of the oak       —-> (7)
Gave the day a glow                   —-> (5)
That you and I would know             —-> (6)
Brought to an end                     —-> (4)
Our time to pretend                   —-> (5)
And we shared                         —-> (3)
Though we were scared                 —-> (4)
Desire                                —-> (2)
Like a fire                           —-> (3)
Rife                                  —-> (1)
With life                             —-> (2)
© Thomas Horton, All Rights Reserved.
You may start with any number of syllables you like; as such, the poem may be of any length, as long was the second line of each rhyming couplet has one more syllable than the first line, and the first line of each subsequent couplet has one fewer syllable than the first line of the previous couplet.
Near rhymes don’t count; all end-rhymes should be full/strong/masculine.
I have re-phrased the instructions thus:
1. Pen a line with any number of syllables.
2. For the next line, add one syllable and rhyme with the preceding line.
3. Subtract two syllables and choose a new rhyme word.
    Repeat instructions 2 thru 3 until instruction 3 would create a zero syllable line.
Rhyme pattern  aabbccddee..etc
No metric requirement.
Example poem
Sapience (Ridotto)
To students I’ve become a bore!
Sapience has chilled me to my core.*
Their indifference dismays.
They only seek their peers’ okays.
A poem’s nothing neat
compared to sexting or tweet.
What set me aglow
they’ll never learn or know.
They are not taught
to pursue true thought
A drone’s job
will suit the mob.
Oh well
What the hell?
So
I know?
*Note: this line lifted in toto from
http://allpoetry.com/poem/10632131-Thanatopsis_for_Dummies-by-Thomas_Horton
Visual template (for beginning with an even number of syllables)

Cascade

Created by Udit Bhatia, the Cascade form “is all about receptiveness, but in a smooth cascading way like a waterfall”. There is no set meter or rhyme scheme. The defining feature of the form is that the lines of the first stanza are repeated as refrain lines in subsequent stanzas to give a “cascading effect”. S1 L1 is repeated as the last line of S2, S1 L2 is repeated as the last line of S3, and so on until all lines in S1 have been used. The number of stanzas is therefore one more than the number of lines in S1.
Example rhyme scheme for a three stanza Cascade: ABC xxA xxB xxC, (ABCxxAxxBxxC)
Rhyme optional, Meter optional, 6 lines or more, line refrain.
 Example Poem
Write a Cascade
The cascade poem can grow in length and width. It’s flexible.
If three lines in one stanza, then stanzas will add up to four.
That means a cascade can be used for many types of contests.
This is an example , a small sample, meter is ignored.
Allowing able alliteration,  but without end rhyme.
The cascade poem can grow in length and width. It’s flexible.
You shall see in Cascade Two that rhyme was planned for and was used.
This monstrous, frigging thing  clamors for abundant verbiage.
If three lines in one stanza, then stanzas will add up to four.
Since this was didactic write, with no metaphor and image.
The flowing effect of my repeating lines might not appear.
That means a cascade can be used for many types of contests.
(c) Lawrencealot – April 22, 2012
Visual Template
 This poem by Discoveria of AllPoetry
(A four line Cascade)

Intramirroral

This is a form invented by Mark Andrew J Terry of Allpoetry.
These are the requirements of this form:
Rhyme Pattern: aabb 
Meter: None specified.
Isosyllabic – Each line must have the same number of syllables.
Minimum poem length: 4 lines, no maximum.
Couplet One:
Every word in the first line should rhyme with the corresponding word in line 2
Except for one word; those words must have contrary meanings, but same syllable count.
It can be expanded as far as you wish.
These are the requirements for a Sestet:
Rhyme Pattern: aabbcc

Meter: Optional.
Couplet One::
Every word in the first line should rhyme with the corresponding word in line 2
Except for one word; those words must have contrary meanings, but same syllable count
Following couplets:
Ends with mirrored rhyme, but also has internal rhyme
Example Poem
Party Time
Alluring tart proffering wile.
Demurring lass deferring guile.
Bewitching twit assures relief.
Enriching wit insures belief.
No way to stay the party game.
I’ll try to buy the hearty dame.
© Lawrencealot – May 27, 2012
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Intermirroral

Roger's Refrain

This is a form invented on AllPoetry.com by Rockape 

It is written in iambic tetrameter with
Any number of mono-rhyme quatrain stanzas, and
and ending rhyming couplet.

It is stanzaic, with quatrains, each stanza being mono-rhymed with the last half of line one, being the repeated refrain, as the last half of line 4.
There is no limit to the number of stanzas but the poem must end with a rhyming couplet.


Example  Poem

I Lost My Kid     (Roger’s Refrain)
On a long trip I lost my kid.
Responsible I am- yet did
and not because he went and hid.
‘T’was late at night I lost my kid.
Me and my boys driving quite far
It would be three day trip by car.
It’s cool at night; that’s how things are
I like that when driving quite far.
In Rock Springs WY I’d stopped to pee.
Got back in checked back seat to see,
indeed my boys were there with me.
I went back where I’d stopped to pee.
There I bought some coffee to go,
got in and went; I don’t go slow.
After an hour got tired you know
Even with the coffee to go.
Pulled off and slept ’til morning light.
That way passed last hour of the night.
My Gary said, Where’s Bob tonight?
I thought him there, ’til morning light.
He had jumped out to take a pee.
and walked to the John don’t you see?
While I was buying that coffee
unknown to me, to take a pee.
I sped back to the coffee shop
without my seeing single cop
who’d been told to locate and stop
one whose kid’s in the coffee shop.
There Bob a grin from ear to ear
A donut in each hand was clear
this adventure had posed no fear.
Powdered sugar from ear to ear.

For dad, there was a bit of fright,
for son,  adventure and delight.


(c) Lawrencealot – August 24, 2012
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