The Mark Terry refrain is a 21 line poem invented by Mark Andrew J Terry of Allpoetry.
Stanzaic, consisting of 3 sestets and a tercet in that order
Syllabic, where the first three stanzas are 7/8/8/8/8/6
and the last is 7/8/6
Rhymed: ABaccb dBdeeb fBfeeb ABa
Metric:
Line 1 is catalectic trochaic tetrameter*
Lines 2 -5 iambic tetrameter, and
Line 6 iambic trimeter
Refrain required: line 2 repeats in every stanza, and
line 1 repeats in line 20
* catalectic = lacking one or more syllables
trochaic = consisting of trochees
trochee = metric foot with stressed followed by unstressed syllable
tetrameter = a line of verse consisting of four metric feet
My example poem
Aural Aroma
Take the rose before you play,
let its aroma seed your soul.
it serves you well as your cachet.
Your music wafts and fills the air
with tonal scents found everywhere
to make dim spirits whole.
Smell the roses fresh bouquet,
let its aroma seed your soul.
Translate for all of us today
the beauty that your heart perceives
into the sounds your mind conceives
as music fills its role.
Never will a rose betray.
Let its aroma seed your soul.
For though it sounds a bit cliche’
when we’re allowed a primal gift
that soothes and gives our souls a lift
its essence we’ll extoll.
Take the rose before you play
let its aroma seed your soul
for now and everyday.
© Lawrencealot – July 4, 2014
Picture credit: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Piano-and-rose-19132337
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