Tag Archives: abab cdcd efef

Hourglass

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Hourglass
The Hourglass contains eight syllables per line, three stanzas, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef.  Once written, the poem is then written ‘upside-down’ from the last line to the first line, and must make sense when read both ways.

Pasted from http://the.a.b.c.of.poetry.styles.patthepoet.com/index.html
Many Thanks to Christina R Jussaume for her work on the Poetry Styles site.

For many related forms, see Trick Poetry.

My example

School Daze (Hourglass)

I tried to write a simple verse,
I’m capable of simple thought.
My mother thought I could do worse
With all the schooling she had bought.

I’d been in school for years and years
Ideas had time to germinate
I overcame my silly fears
I said to mother, “You just wait!

I would not a good doctor make,
a physicist was out of reach,
how many more years will that take?
Perhaps I’d better plan to teach

Perhaps I’d better plan to teach,
how many more years will that take?
A physicist was out of reach;
I would not a good doctor make.

I said to mother, “You just wait!
I overcame my silly fears
Ideas had time to germinate
I’d been in school for years and years.

With all the schooling she had bought
My mother thought I could do worse.
I’m capable of simple thought,
I tried to write a simple verse.

© Lawrencealot – October 11, 2014

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Hourglass

Ae Freslighe poetry form

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Ae Freslighe
An Irish form that dates back to at least the time of Saint Patrick, Ae Freslighe is a quatrain of seven syllables per line, and tells a story within no more than four stanzas. Properly, it rhymes abab cdcd efef etc. All rhymes are feminine rhymes, odd line rhymes ending with words of three syllables and even lines ending with words of two syllables. Ideally, the last word should be the same as the first, although some examples of only the last syllable same are extant. Alternately, when writing more than one stanza, the last line may repeat the first, which would alter the last stanza’s rhyme scheme to eaea.
Please note the syllable count shows that odd lines end in three syllables, even lines in two.
xxxx(xxa) xxxxx(xb) xxxx(xxa) xxxxx(xb)

Pasted from <http://the.a.b.c.of.poetry.styles.patthepoet.com/index.html>

My example

machu-picchu-late-afternoon

Macho Picchu (Ae Freslighe)

Treasures are worth defending;
(it’s best if they’re kept hidden.)
The artisans descending
had done what they were bidden.

The clouds closely hovering –
so full of rain were loaded;
men terraced a covering
that still is not outmoded.

Invaders were defacing
by crude and ugly measures
just taking, not replacing
Thank God they missed these treasures.

© Lawrencealot – October 3, 2014

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Ae Freslighe

The Russell

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• The Russell is a verse form composed of three alternating rhyme quatrains written with the first 3 lines iambic pentameter and the fourth line iambic trimeter. It is patterned after The Great Breath by George William Russell (1867-1935),

The Russell is:

  • stanzaic written in any number of octaves. (original poem has 6 octaves)
  • metered, L1, L4,L6 and L8 are dimeter, L2,L3,L5, and L7 are pentameter.
  • rhymed, aabbccdd.

The Great Breath by George William Russell
ITS edges foam’d with amethyst and rose,
Withers once more the old blue flower of day:
There where the ether like a diamond glows,
Its petals fade away.
A shadowy tumult stirs the dusky air;
Sparkle the delicate dews, the distant snows;
The great deep thrills–for through it everywhere
The breath of Beauty blows.
I saw how all the trembling ages past,
Moulded to her by deep and deeper breath,
Near’d to the hour when Beauty breathes her last
And knows herself in death.
Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=668>
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the years of effort on the wonderful PoetryMagnumOpus resource.
My example Poem
Somewhere a Prince

Picture credit: Robert Dowling

Somewhere a Prince (The Russell)

There’s room to land a flying dragon here
and I’m above the clouds so don’t get wet.
It’s falling off the edges that I fear,
I’m higher than Tibet.

My prince desired to keep me safe and chaste.
Deliveries are made each week or two.
I hope the campaign’s through and done post-haste.
There’s no one here to do.

If he don’t win, I hope the dragon knows
to bring along the prince who does prevail.
the winner will be handsome I suppose
to make a happy tale.

© Lawrencealot – July 13, 2014

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The Russell