Tag Archives: couplets

Raay or Rai

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Thai poetry.

The Raay or Rai is a forerunner of the Kloang and has the same unique tonal pattern. It is a chained verse, written with the end syllable of L1 rhymed with the beginning syllable of L2. It was often used to record laws and chronicle events in verse.
The Raay is
○ stanzaic, written in a series of couplets.
○ syllabic, 5 syllables per line.
○ chain rhymed, the last syllable of L1 rhymes with the first syllable of L2.

Pasted from Poetry Magnum Opus, with thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My Example

Form: Raay

Ponderables

Although I’ve known strife,
life has been a wide-
eyed ride where each thought
brought more great questions.

© Lawrencealot – January 29, 2015

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Con-Verse and Conversation in Couplets

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• Converse in Couplets is an invented stanzaic form that emulates a Conversation Poem or dialogue in rhymed couplets. John Henson introduced this form at Poetry Styles. This could fall under the genre of a French Débat or Eclogue Débat with a prescribed stanzaic form. Shadow Poetry.comexpands this form shortening the name to Con-Verse to change the syllabic count of the couplets.
Converse in Couplets is:
○ stanzaic, written in any number of couplets.
○ syllabic, all lines are 11 syllables.
…
a conversation between at least 2 voices.

The Age Old Story by Judi Van Gorder

I got caught in the hall without a hall-pass,
my practice ran late, then I ran out of gas

You were told before to be home by seven 
and no excuses pave the road to heaven.

I would have called but you do not understand
things didn’t play out the way that I planned.

It’s the third time this week that you’ve come home late.
You could be dead in a ditch while I fret and wait.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/2192-invented-forms-from-poetry-styles/
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

Con-Verse
The Con-Verse, created by Connie Marcum Wong, consists of three or more 2-line rhyming stanzas (couplets). The meter of this form is in syllabic verse.

Rhyme scheme: aa,bb,cc,dd,ee
Meter: 7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,11,11

(Syllabic verse only counts the number of syllables in a line.)

This form consists of three or more couplets which ascend by one syllable up to and until you reach a syllabic count of eleven which would contain ten lines.

This process may be repeated for a longer verse. If repeated, you must begin your first couplet with the syllabic count of seven again and continue from there

Pasted from http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/converse.html
Many thanks to the ShadowPoetry site.

My Example

Toilet Seat Lament  (Con-verse)

The seat was up again, dear!
What?honey – I didn’t hear.

The toilet seat, you just left up!
It makes it easy for the pup.

Don’t give me that “doggies drinking bit!”
Dear, just put it down before you sit!

© Lawrencealot – October 10, 2014

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Con-verse

Anacreontic Ode

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The Anacreontic Ode is proof that an ode need not be long and lofty. The Greek poet Anacreon often wrote odes in praise of pleasure and drink, a Dithyramb or Skolion. Often the odes were made up of 7 syllable, rhymed couplets known as Anacreontic couplets. Some of Anacreon’s poems were paraphrased by English poet Abraham Cowley in 1656 in which he attempted to emulate Greek meter. The main concern of several 17th century poets was that the poem avoid “piety” by “Christian” poets who would tame the spirit and make the form worthless. Although the Anacreontic Ode has been defined as a series of Anacreontic couplets, Richard Lovelace’s The Grasshopper is thought to be a translation of an Ode by Anacreon, it does fit the subject matter but the translation is written in iambic pentameter quatrains with alternating rhyme.

The Anacreontic couplet is named for the ancient Greek poet Anacreon who tended to write short lyrical poems celebrating love and wine, a genre known as Dithyramb. By 1700 English poet John Phillips defined the form to be written in 7 syllable rhyming couplets.

The Anacreontic couplet is:
○ stanzaic, written in any number of couplets,
○ preferably short. The Anacreontic Ode is often made up of a series of Anacreontic couplets.
○ syllabic, 7 syllables for each line.
○ rhymed. aa bb etc.
○ composed to celebrate the joys of drinking and love making. Some Anacreontic verse tends toward the erotic or bawdy.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2219#couplet
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful PMO site. It is a wonderful resource.

Other Odes: Aeolic Ode, Anacreontic Ode, Choral Ode or Pindaric Ode or Dorian Ode,
Cowleyan Ode or Irregular Ode, Horatian Ode, Keatsian or English Ode, Ronsardian Ode

Thematic Odes:
Elegy, Obsequy, Threnody Ode
Elemental Ode
Genethliacum Ode
Encomium or Coronation Ode
Epithalamion or Epithalamium and Protholathiumis
Palinode Ode
Panegyric or Paean
Triumphal Ode
Occasional Verse

My try at this form:

Elbow Tango  (Anacreontic Ode)

Come and share with me a brew,
or better yet more than two.
Drink in smiles before you go
exercising your elbow.
We can sit on stool or bench,
drink and flirt with serving wench
with fine limbs and rounded ass-
her charms grow with every glass.
Likely, we’ll go home alone
but fine memories we’ll own.

© Lawrencealot – August 13, 2013

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Anacreontic Ode

Ruthless Rhyme

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Ruthless Rhyme
Ruthless rhymes were created by Harry Graham. If you haven’t met them before, and enjoy things that are deplorably funny but not in the best possible taste, do please seek out his work. (My favourite is the one about little Leonie.) It’s not that easy to write a poem about death that’s funny without being offensive. How about this one:
Out in the Wash
When spouse and clothes got in a tangle
They went together through the mangle.
The faithless rat I did not grieve –
Still flatter, but can’t now deceive.
Ruthless rhymes are always written in rhyming couplets – usually two of them, but occasionally more.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
The link below will lead you to a fine selection of poems by
By Jocelyn Henry Clive ‘Harry’ Graham who just became on of my favorite poets.
Here are a couple of examples of his work.
Necessity
LATE last night I slew my wife,
Stretched her on the parquet flooring;
I was loath to take her life,
But I had to stop her snoring.
The Perils of Obesity
YESTERDAY my gun exploded
When I thought it wasn’t loaded;
Near my wife I pressed the trigger,
Chipped a fragment off her figure;
‘Course I’m sorry, and all that,
But she shouldn’t be so fat.
My example poem
Laundry Mix     ( Example of Ruthless Rhyme)
Into the wash I threw the cat
and Mom said I ought not do that.
But still a load of underwear
feels nice when coated with cat hair.
© Lawrencealot – April 11, 2024
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Ruthless Rhyme

Loop Poetry

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Loop Poetry is a poetry form created by Hellon. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas nor on the syllable count for each line. In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4. This is followed for each stanza. The rhyme scheme is abcb.
 
Variations: 
 
1. Stanzas, writers choice on the number, no rhyming, the last word, first word scheme is maintained. 
 
2. One long stanza, no limit on number of lines, no rhyming scheme, the last word, first word scheme is maintained.
 
3. Couplets mixed with 4 line stanzas, the last word, first word scheme is maintained in the stanzas. It can also be used in the couplets.
Rhyme scheme is ab, cc, defg, hh, ii, jklm, nn, oo.
 
Example #1:
How I See You
 
Eyes that don’t see
see the things that you do
do you wish me to describe
describe how I see you…
 
Skin so delicate
delicate as a rose
rose that will blossom
blossom as it grows.
 
Hair moving gently
gently you tease
tease…softly whispering
whispering summer breeze.
 
Voice so melodic
melodic singing birds
birds, such sweet tunes
tunes…enchant like your words.
 
Dress…rustling
rustling tress bare
bare as leaves fall
fall, the colour of your hair.
 
Your perfume..sweet fragrance
fragrance frangipani’s bring
bring back many memories
memories of spring.
 
Yes…I am blind
blind, yet I see
see in my mind
mind you fill will glee.
 
Copyright © 2009 Hellon
 
Example #2:
Bloody eyes
 
Bloody eyes..watching..waiting
waiting in gloomy shadows
shadows of night
night so…still
still they watch, still they wait
wait for you
you..the next victim
victim of evil
evil that lurks
lurks in silence
silence then…screams
screams…then silence
silence of night
night of shadows
shadows of gloom..waiting
waiting…watching
watching..bloody eyes
 
Copyright © 2009 Hellon
 
Example #3:
Picture Frame
 
Looking out at the world from a picture frame
smile frozen in time.. skin of porcelain
 
Eyes of green meadows on a warm summer’s day
auburn hair falling cascades to disarray…
 
disarray like her life
life changed this young girl
girl with a past
past life..secrets hidden
 
around the frame wallpaper is faded
just like her life, over…jaded
 
smile frozen in time behind emerald eyes
there in a past entwined with lies
 
Lies…there were many
many secrets..haunting
haunting her now
now re-living the nightmare
 
Fear of a night she would rather forget
so long ago still she lives with regret
 
picture frame now smashed, shattered glass on the floor
just like her life, dreams are no more.
 
Copyright © 2009 Hellon All Rights Reserved
 

 

Too many options for this poet to choose among!

Grá Reformata

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The Grá Reformata, created by Michael King, is based upon the Villanelle form.
Following the basic setting of the Villanelle, the a Grá Reformata has an extra couplet between each tercet. This couplet can be either rhymed within the structure of the rest of the poem, or in free verse, but always in iambic pentameter.
This is Stanzaic pome of 27 lines, consisting of alternating tercets and couplets, followed by a quatrain.
Meter is Iambic Pentameter
 Rhyme Scheme is AbA2 xx abA xx abA2 xx abA xx abA2 abAA2, (AbA2xxabAxxabA2xxabAxxabA2abAA2)
where x is either rhymed or not, and A and A2 are Refrain lines.
Example Poem
 
Typhoon Flotilla     (Grá Reformata)
The mighty craft were built for wartime use
they’re armed with weapons, they’ll with luck, not need
and show their strength when faced with real excuse.
Typhoon Haiyan has stuck with natures force,
and man must bow to Gaia’s strength of course.
The USA and Britain ships have cruised
to technologically intercede.
The mighty craft were built for wartime use
A corpse-choked wasteland stretches through the land
with isolation hard to understand.
The ships provisioned for a grand re-use–
with craft to reach the folks they need to feed
and show their strength when faced with real excuse.
The helicopters may again save lives,
by reaching rural land where some survive.
The water Britain’s warships can produce
will be delivered with the greatest speed.
The mighty craft were built for wartime use.
The food and medicine that countries send
will find that structured order is their friend.
Relief efforts have no more time to lose
organization’s what makes ships succeed
and show their strength when faced with real excuse.
They’ll all work hard before their homeward cruise,
and try to help although their hearts may bleed.
The mighty craft were built for wartime use
and show their strength when faced with real excuse.
© Lawrencealot – November 27, 2013
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Essence

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Stanzaic, any number of couplets
Isosyllabic, Hexasyllabic lines
Rhyme Pattern: xbxcxa xbacxa, where b and c are interlaced rhyme, AND c is optional.
      Note: The b and c rhymes can be found on any syllables.
  • Essence is a rhyming hexasyllabic couplet with internal rhyme with a twist. Normally in English prosody “internal rhyme” refers to a word within the line rhyming with the end word of that line or the end word of the previous line. However in this verse form internal rhyme refers to words from somewhere within the line rhyming internally within the next line, it could be 1 or 2 rhymes. (This could be tricky in only 6 short syllables.) Found at ShadowPoetry.com and attributed to Emily Romano, published in P.O.E.T. magazine in 1981.
    The essence is:

    • stanzaic, written in any number of couplets.
    • syllabic, hexasyllabic lines.
    • end rhymed as well as interlaced rhyme. x b x x c a b x c x x a The b and c interlaced rhymes may be placed in any position within the lines, the c rhyme is optional.
Two short lines with end rhyme
sort within, tend to time.
——Judi Van Gorder
 
 
My great thanks to Judi of PMO, for the above.
II made one change in the description.  Instead of referring to the b and c rhymes as internal rhyme, I called them interlaced rhyme.
Rhyming a word in the middle of one line with a word in the middle of another is called interlaced rhyme.
Here, thanks to Bob Newman of Volecentral, is the most definitive list of rhyme types I have ever encountered.   http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/rhyme.htmNote: I would also disagree with the indicated rhyming convention, but guess I will not insist it be x a x b x c  since the previously indicated pattern bestows the a-rhyme upon the end-rhyme position.
Isosyllabic: 6/6/6/6/6/6
Rhymed (bca)(bca) (Interlaced rhyme)
My  Example Poem
Bye Bye,  Bad Boy      (Essence)
Next time you reel me in
to climb and feel and sin,
I plan to take to bed
a man to slake instead.
© Lawrencealot – Thanksgiving day 2013
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Essence

Blitz Poem

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  • The Blitz Poem is an invented verse form found on line at Shadow Poetry, it was created by Robert Keim. As the name implies it is a rush of phrases and images with rapid repetition as if creating a sudden and intense attack on the senses. It is a kind of twisted Chain Verse. The Blitz is:
    • stanzaic, written in 25 couplets, a total of 50 lines.
    • unmetered. Lines should be short, but at least 2 words, like rapid fire.
    • unrhymed.
    • composed with words that are repeated from line to line in the following pattern:
      • L1 A short phrase, can be cliché.
      • L2 The first word of L1 is repeated as the first word of L2. From here on, the last word of the even numbered line is repeated as the first word of each line in the next couplet through L48.
      • L49 is the repetition of the last word of L48.
      • L50 is the repetition of the last word of L47.
    • unpunctuated.
    • titled, which includes the first words of L3 and L47.
Many Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the above.
Here are the rules:
  • Line 1 should be one short phrase or image (like “build a boat”)
  • Line 2 should be another short phrase or image using the same first word as the first word in Line 1 (something like “build a house”)
  • Lines 3 and 4 should be short phrases or images using the last word of Line 2 as their first words (so Line 3 might be “house for sale” and Line 4 might be “house for rent”)
  • Lines 5 and 6 should be short phrases or images using the last word of Line 4 as their first words, and so on until you’ve made it through 48 lines
  • Line 49 should be the last word of Line 48
  • Line 50 should be the last word of Line 47
  • The title of the poem should be three words long and follow this format: (first word of Line 3) (preposition or conjunction) (first word of line 47)
  • There should be no punctuation
There are a lot of rules, but it’s a pretty simple and fun poem to write once you get the hang of it.
Many Thanks to Robert Lee Brewer for the above.
 
Example Poem:
 
Dudes to Party   (Blitz Poem)
pop some corn
pop some  tarts
tarts  tastes good
tarts needs heat
heat that tart
heat the cider
cider gets warm
cider smell invites
invites the neighbor
invites neighbor’s wife
wife is a tart
wife is a  friend
friend with benefits
friend indeed
indeed we’re swinging
indeed we’re singing
singing folksongs
singing Christmas Carols
Carol’s the wife
Carol’s now dancing
dancing on table
dancing with guys
guys like popcorn
guys like tarts
tarts are sweet
tarts get warm
warm the popcorn
warm the brew
brew some for me
brew some for you
you laugh and sing
you brought joy
Joy is single
Joy will mingle
mingle under mistletoe
mingle everywhere you know
Know she’s a tart
Know fun’s to start
start to hug
start to kiss
kiss the missus
kiss the miss
miss nothing
miss Trixie is here
here is the fun
here is the party
party on dudes
party hearty
hearty
dudes
© Lawrencealot – November 27, 2013
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(Note: Template was not in compliance, the First word of the Title, must be the last word of the poem.

 Cyhydedd hir

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Cyhydedd Hir, cuh-hée-dedd heer (long cyhydedd), the 18th codified ancient Welsh Meters an Awdl, is most often written as a couplet following other metered couplets within a stanza.

Cyhydedd Hir is:
• written in any number of single lines made up of 19 syllables divided into 3 rhymed 5 syllable phrases and ending in a 4 syllable phrase carrying a linking rhyme to the next line.
• or could be written as a couplet of a 10 syllable line and a 9 syllable line. The 5th and 10th syllables of the 10 syllable line are echoed in rhyme mid line of the 9 syllable line which also carries a linking end-rhyme to be echoed in the end syllable of each succeeding couplet or stanza.
• or the couplet can be separated at the rhyme, into tercet or quatrain.

single line
x x x x a x x x x a x x x x a x x x b

or as a couplet

x x x x a x x x x a
x x x x a x x x b

or quatrains
x x x x a
x x x x a
x x x x a
x x x b

x x x x c
x x x x c
x x x x c
x x x b

or tercets
x x x x a
x x x x a
x x x x a x x x b

x x x x c
x x x x c
x x x x c x x x b

x x x x D
x x x x D
x x x x D x x x B

Thanks to Judy Van Gorder for her effort on this wonderful resouce.
 


Example Poem

Lovers in the Park

Lovers in the park
Share a certain spark,
life is but a lark.
They share desire.
Soft whispers calling,
on grass they’re sprawling,
each other mauling,
Eros on fire.

Wanting without shame,
desire sparks the flame,
part of all love’s game,
this is true lust.
In his eyes a gleam,
her pulse one hot stream.
for each– what a dream,
this sensual trust.

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This is the quatrain option shown:
Cyhydedd hir

Ghazal

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The Ghazal (pronounced Guzzle) is an Arabic form that consists of rhyming couplets. It typically deals with the pain of love (especially lost love) combined with the beauty of love. The Persian form which derives from the older Arabic form deviates considerably. Generally when the Ghazal is described it is the Persian form that is used. Goethe introduced the form to the Western world which became transmuted into the Bastard Ghazal
Form Type:
Metered
Origins:
Arabic
Creator:
Unknown
Number of Lines:
Rhyme Scheme:
AA, bA, cA, etc
Meter:
Not Applicable
Persian Ghazal
There are a number of rules to observe in a fully formed Persian Ghazal, though some may be omitted. They are:
1. The poem must consist of 5 or more couplets, known as sher or bayt unto a maximum of 25 couplets.
2. The second line of each sher usually ends with a radif which is a repeated word or phrase, this may however be omitted.
3. Before the radif or at the end of the sher if the radif is not present is a rhyme known as the qaafiyaa.
4. Each line and each couplet must have the same meter beher. Although this restriction is relaxed in modern Urdu Gazals.
5. Each couplet must be complete within itself, there is no enjambment across couplets.
6. Each sher should be a closed poem in its own right, however there may be a continuity of theme or thought running through them. In this case the poem is known as a musalsal ghazal (continuous ghazal).
7. The final sher is called the maqta it is usual for the writer to include their takhallus name or pen name in this sher. However this is relaxed in some modern Ghazals.
8. Normal practice is to keep the number of Shers odd.
Arabic Ghazal
The older Arabic form of the Ghazal differs slightly with its rules. They are:
1. It is traditional not to split the Sher into a couplet, but to keep it as a bayt (long line). However it can still be rendered as a couplet.
2. Each line must share the same meter. The line must divide naturally into two hemistiches (halves) with a caesura in the middle. The caesura must occur metrically and may appear in the middle of a word. The author decides how visible the caesura should be.
3. The length of a hemistiches must be between trimeter and heptameter. If using a accentual or accentual-syllabic meter you will have between three and seven beats. If using syllabic meter then the hemistiches should be between six and fourteen syllables long. If totally free style then the lines should look evenly balanced.
4. Monorhyme is employed for each line of the poem.
5. While Slant Rhyme can be used it should not be so subtle as to lose the effect of rhyme which is vital to this form.
6. Using the same rhyming word should be avoided unless there is a very good reason for it.
7. Complete Autonomy within a line is not as important as in the Persian forn. Some enjambment between lines is allowed, but this should not be too radical.
8. The first line rhymes the syllable before the caesura with the syllable ending the line. All other lines rhyme on the final syllable.
9. Stanza breaks are not required and may be used when the writer feels it is appropriate.

These were the total initial specifications when I wrote Your Love.

A Ghazal is a poem that is made up like an odd numbered chain of couplets,
where each couplet is an independent poem.
It should be natural to put a comma at the end of the first line.
The Ghazal has a refrain of one to three words that repeat,
and an inline rhyme that precedes the refrain.
Lines 1 and 2, then every second line has this refrain
and inline rhyme, and the last couplet should refer to the
authors pen-name… The rhyming scheme is Aa bA cA dA eA etc.
How to write a Ghazal’
1. Layout a template with a minimum of five couplets of identical length. Each couplet is two lines so the minimum poem length is 10 lines.
2. Each couplet should be able to stand alone, as if it were its own poem.
3. Select an ending word that will end the first two lines, the word as perhaps part of a short phrase will become a refrain for the second line of all following stanzas.
4. Choose a word to precede that phrase, that can easily and sensibly be rhymed in all even numbered lines, in the same position.
5. If you are the extroverted type you may insert your name in the first line of the final couplet and/or provide a “turn” to the poem at this point.

Example Poem
Your Love   (Ghazal)
I  spent youth’s dawn just searching for your love;
no idealist, it need not be pure love.
An Idealist in every other way
I wanted shared devotion from your love.
I tried other girls as I searched for you,
but none did cleave so well until your love.
Your mind captured my mind, your body sang
to  mine. I  was fulfilled by your love.
I let unimportant matters intrude!
Lawrencealot, neglect cost you your love!
(c) Lawrencealot – April 5, 2012
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Ghazal2