Split Sestet
Type: Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Stanzaic
Description: Similar to rime coulée, but with generally shorter lines, the Split Sestet is rhymed aabaab with the “a” lines iambic trimeter and the “b” lines anapestic monometer.
Origin: American
Schematic:
Rhyme: aabaab
Meter:
xX xX xX
xX xX xX
xxX
xX xX xX
xX xX xX
xxX
Pasted from http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/002/295.shtml
My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his years of work on the wonderful Poetrybase resource.
The Split Sestet appears to be the American version of a Rime Couée. This six line stanzaic form is “split” by anapestic monometer lines.
The Split Sestet is
• stanzaic, written in any number of sixains.
• metric, L1,L2,L4,L5 are iambic trimeter and L3,L6 are anapestic monometer.
• rhymed, rhyme scheme aabaab ccdccd ect.
The Last Leaf by Oliver Wendall Holmes 1895
I saw him once before,
As he passed by the door,
And again
The pavement stones resound,
As he totters o’er the ground
With his cane.
They say that in his prime,
Ere the pruning-knife of Time
Cut him down,
Not a better man was found
By the Crier on his round
Through the town.
But now he walks the streets,
And he looks at all he meets
Sad and wan,
And he shakes his feeble head,
That it seems as if he said,
“They are gone!”
The mossy marbles rest
On the lips that he has prest
In their bloom,
And the names he loved to hear
Have been carved for many a year
On the tomb.
My grandmamma has said–
Poor old lady, she is dead
Long ago–
That he had a Roman nose,
And his cheek was like a rose
In the snow;
But now his nose is thin,
And it rests upon his chin
Like a staff,
And a crook is in his back,
And a melancholy crack
In his laugh.
I know it is a sin
For me to sit and grin
At him here;
But the old three-cornered hat,
And the breeches, and all that,
Are so queer!
And if I should live to be
The last leaf upon the tree
In the spring,
Let them smile, as I do now,
At the old forsaken bough
Where I cling.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2063
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
My example
Cultural Dogma (Split Sestet)
The Mormons came to call
on bikes in early fall
with their books.
And though I didn’t care
for dogma I liked their
wholesome looks.
At first I thought I’d taunt
to see if I could daunt
their belief.
Their fables were absurd
and yet their written word
spread no grief.
They had no plans to kill
non-members, if you will,
as some do.
They took as an insult
their status as a cult –
which I knew.
I’d seen much social good
In Mormon neighborhoods
in my life.
No harm to me’d been done
although I’d taken one
for my wife.
The missionaries left
not they nor I bereft
on that day.
The Muslims they exceed
in written word and deed,
any way.
© Lawrencealot – October 10, 2014
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