Tag Archives: ababa

Quintilla

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The Quintilla is a 16th century Spanish quintain with a rhyme scheme that is more about what cannot be done than what can be done. 

The Quintilla is:
• syllabic verse, octasyllabic (8 syllable lines)
• stanzaic, written in any number of quintains (5 line stanzas).
• rhymed. In each quintain only 2 rhymes can be used and it cannot end in a rhyming couplet.
• There is choice of rhyme schemes of ababa, abbab, abaab, aabab, or aabba
• when written as a decastich, (2 quintillas) the verse is known as Copla Real

El Viejo by Judi Van Gorder 7/1/03
The ancient cur begins to rise 
ignoring stiff, defiant bones. 
Foolishly focused on the prize, 
his awkward pounce elicits groans. 
To snub one’s age, not always wise.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1015
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
My example

I’m Shocked, I Did It!  (Form: Quintilla)

Impossibly demanding task
when twenty-two whole words are asked
and forty syllables I need
according to Quintilla’s mask
but perseverance did succeed.

© Lawrencealot – January 9, 2015
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Quintilla

Copla Real

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Copla Real, popular in 15th century Spain, is a decastich which is made up of 2 Quintillas.

The Copla Real is:
○ a decastich (10 line poem) made up of 2 Quintillas (Spanish 8 syllable line quintains turned on only 2 rhymes of any combination other than never ending with a rhymed couplet.)
○ syllabic, all lines are 8 syllables.
○ rhymed, the rhyme scheme established in the first quintain is repeated in the 2nd quintilla. Possible rhyme schemes ababa, abbab, abaab, aabab, or aabba. The one no-no is it should never end in a rhyming couplet.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/1031-copla-copla-real-pie-quebrado/
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

To Pee or Not to Pee (Form: Copla Real)

I put my first foot on the floor
then know I want to sleep some more.
It’s early yet; there’s snow outside
Get up? Stay here? It’s either/or.
My need to pee might soon subside.

The trip to pee I do abhor;
to go and pee’s no little chore.
You think I’m silly? Don’t be snide.
I’d have to open our backdoor.
Your own bathroom must be inside.

© Lawrencealot – December 22, 2014

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This template is for iambic tetrameter.

Copla Real

Bob and Wheel

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Bob and Wheel
Type: Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Appendages
Description: Rather than being a form that verse is actually written in, the Bob and Wheel often is found at the end of some other verse form as a tail.
The bob is anywhere from one accented syllable to a couple of feet long. It may be an enjambment from the last line of the verse it is appended to, or it may enjamb down into the wheel.
The wheel consists of four lines that are three verse feet long.
The rhyme scheme for the Bob and Wheel is “a baba.”
The Bob and Wheel might appear indented from the rest of the verse that precedes it. In some cases, although not usually, the Bob and Wheel may be burden, in other words, repeated like a chorus.
Origin: English
Schematic: a baba
Rhythm/Stanza Length: 5
Line/Poem Length: 5

Pasted from http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/22.shtml

My thanks to Charles Weatherford for his wonderful Poetrybase resource.

Bob and wheel is the common name for a metrical device most famously used by the Pearl Poet in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The feature is found mainly in Middle English and Middle Scots poetry, where the bob and wheel occur typically at the end of a stanza. The “bob” is a very short line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the “wheel,” longer lines with internal rhyme. There are at least forty known examples of bob and wheel use, but the origin of the form is obscure. It seems to predate the Pearl Poet. Bob and wheel is not used often in modern poetry.

Pasted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_wheel

bob and wheel, in alliterative verse, a group of typically five rhymed lines following a section of unrhymed lines, often at the end of a strophe. The bob is the first line in the group and is shorter than the rest; the wheel is the quatrain that follows the bob.

Pasted from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/70743/bob-and-wheel

My example

They come
tracking evil men–
hear their spirits thrum.
Certain death. Amen!

This appended to my Poem: Retribution.
Evil will succumb.

See this appended to a poem:
 

MLou Quintet

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This form was invented by Mary Lou Healy, aka, MLou at Allpoetry
Each Stanza has the following form:
Line 1, 5 feet;
Line 2, 3 feet;
Line 3, 4 feet;
Line 4, 3 feet;
Line 5, 4 feet.
(5/3/4/3/4)
As many quintet stanzas as preferred,
rhyme scheme: ababa  cdcdc  efefe  ghghg  etc.
Example Poem
My Wife
While I sat pondering, “What shall I write?”
my thoughts turned to my wife.
Of course she is my warmth at night-
adds color to my life,
but still those claims seem much too trite.
Her common sense exceeds one’s proper share.
No problem she has faced
has gone unsolved; now that is rare.
She finds what I’ve misplaced
and tends to all with loving care.
She thinks that even at my age I’m fine,
and though I don’t agree
(I think my faults are still benign)
she does put up with me
and populates my life’s design.
© Lawrencealot – September 24, 2012
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