Pathways for the Poet by Viola Berg (1977) is a book for and by educators. Classic poetic forms as well as many invented forms which appear to have been invented as teaching tools or exercizes for use in workshops or classrooms are included. Some of these invented forms I have found in use in internet poetry communities, a testament to their staying power. On this page I include the metric invented forms found there in which appear to be exclusive to the community of educators from whom Ms. Berg drew her support. I have yet to find these in any other source. …. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.
• The Quintette is an invented verse form with an unusually placed refrain. It was created by Fay Lewis Noble.
The Quintette is:
○ a poem in 15 lines made up of 3 quintains.
○ metric, stanza 1 & 3 are iambic pentameter, stanza 2 all lines are iambic, L1,L5 are dimeter and L3 is pentameter and L2,L4 are tetrameter.
○ L1 of the 1st stanza is repeated as L3 of the 2nd stanza and L5 of the 3rd stanza.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme Ababb acAca dadaA.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1199#dionol
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
The Quintette is:
A 15 line poem written in iambic meter
Stanzas 1 and 3 are iambic petameter,
Stanza 2 is dimeter, tetrameter, and pentameter
Rhymed, with refrains: Ababb acAca dadaA.
My example
No Promises to Break (Quintette)
I have no need for dogma in my life.
What is apparent makes me satisfied.
I scoff at those who need an after-life.
Religion’s dogma I cannot abide;
and science too buys dogma, and has lied.
I treasure life
and feel my spirit’s doing well;
I have no need for dogma in my life.
I need no promises to quell
some inner strife.
There’s many things I see, not understood,
and obstacles encountered sometimes rife.
Yet mostly things I see seem pretty good,
and frequently made better by my wife.
I have no need for dogma in my life.
© Lawrencealot – September 20, 2014
Contest entry using Title: Broken Promises
By Author: Clarence Shava
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