Canopus

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. I have included the syllabic invented forms on a separate page. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.

Canopus is an invented verse form which stresses a “continuous flow of thought”. This is attributed to author Clement Wood of The Complete Rhyming Dictionary and Poet’s Craft Book 1936.

Canopus is also the 2nd brightest star in Earth‘s sky, though not visible to anyone living above latitude 37 degrees north of the northern hemisphere.

The Canopus is:
○ a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines.
○ metric, written in iambic pentameter.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme ababcbc.

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.

My example

Pending Love  (Canapus)

My love for you was quietly ensconced
in silent hidden realms where love resides
and flourishes when touched by thought just once.
We never met where such a love abides,
but my imagination holds a view
that time will cure that fault for us; besides,
to love is next to being loved by you.

© Lawrencealot – September 3, 2014

Visual Template

Canapus

California Rhyme Stanza

Invented by Barbara Dilworth and introduced at VoleCentral

The California Rhymed Stanza is:
isosyllabic (same number of syllables each line)
stanzaic, any number of septets (seven-line stanza)
rhymed pattern: ababcbc
meter optional

My thanks to Ron Newman at Volecentral for this information, his site is a wonderful resource.
 
Example Poem

Surrogate    (California Rhyme Stanza)
I am a cheater I’ll admit
I rarely delve into my mind
and find new notions to submit.
left to myself I’d be behind
the eight-ball waiting for my muse,
but seeing other’s work, I find,
will often give me writing clues.
The art may come from any field,
from folks way more profound than I.
With cutting tools that artists wield
they show what’s hidden to the eye.
Then sometimes, somehow, I’m allowed
to tell how their work makes me high,
to share their visions makes me proud.
© Lawrencealot – November 9, 2013
 
 
Visual Template
Here I created a pentameter template then chose to write 
iambic tetrameter.