Lilit

Thai poetry.

• The Lilit is an alternating Raay and Kloang verse. Usually the Raay is used to describe the action and the Kloang is the dialogue.

The Lilit is:
○ stanzaic, alternating Raay couplets with Kloang quatrains.
○ syllabic, the couplets are 5 syllable lines and the quatrains are L1-L3 7 syllable lines and L4 is a 9 syllable line.
○ couplets composed with a chain, linking the lines of the couplet and linking the stanzas.
○ rhymed, composed with cross, interlaced and end rhyme .

x x x x a
a x x x b
b x x x c x d
x x x x d x c
x x x x d x e
x x x x c x x x e
e x x x f
f x x x g
g x x x h x i
x x x x i x h
x x x x i x j
x x x x h x x x j

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

Chain: A series of verses or stanzas in which the last word of the verse or stanza is repeated as the first word of the next verse or stanza.

Cross rhyme: When the end word rhymes with a word in the middle of the next line

Interlaced rhyme: A word in the middle of one line rhymes with a word in the middle of another.

My Example

Form: Lilit

Nuance


Stop and take a look.
Look at what I’ve found.

“Found something, new you say?”
While it’s okay to view
the form that way, it’s old
in fact, which you can now behold.

Behold it’s Thailand.
Thailand’s ancient verse.

Verse once inscribed on walls
and in great halls described
is something called new now
what was transcribed– ignored somehow.

© Lawrencealot – January 29, 2015

Visual Template

Séadna (shay'-na)

Séadna is:
    1. written in any number of quatrains.
    2. syllabic 8-7-8-7.
    3. written with L1 and L3, 2 syllable end words; L2 and L4, 1 syllable end words.
    4. rhymed. L2 and L4 end rhyme, L3 rhymes with the stressed word preceding the final word of L4. There are two aicill-rhymes in the second couplet.
    5. composed with alliteration in each line, the final word of L4 alliterating with the preceding stressed word. The final syllable of L1 alliterates with the first stressed word of L2.x x x x x x (x a)
      x a x x x x b
      x x x b x x (x c)
      x b x c x x b

Many thanks to John Clitheroe for his work on the PoetsGarret site.

Séadna (shay’-na):
A quatrain stanza of alternating octosyllabic lines with disyllabic endings and heptasyllabic lines with monosyllabic endings. Lines two and four rhyme, line three rhymes with the stressed word preceding the final word of line four. There are two cross-rhymes in the second couplet. There is alliteration in each line, the final word of line four alliterating with the preceding stressed word. The final syllable of line one alliterates with the first stressed word of line two.
B x x x x x (x a)
x x x x x x b
x x x x c x (x c)
x b x c x x B
Caring for the watercolor
I find you looking at me there
Blush to white palor, dim valor,
Thus, where its blue core had found care.
Kathy Anderson
Example poem
Fight on Poet
Fight on against fear of failure;
cure your weary will and fright.
Pursue dreams; ignore cause killing
themes, write– winning thrilling fight.
(c) Lawrencealot – July 4, 2012
Visual Aid
  
This is my 2nd attempt to write specs for this form.  It is without a doubt the most demanding poetry form I have encountered.  Since it is not possible to make a template that is much more than the equivalent of house plans on a napkin, handed to an architect…I have included the check list I referred to repeatedly while writing this one verse poem.
Besides being overly challenged for a long while; I chose a one verse poem so I could demo the Line 4 2nd word rhyme, and the first-last unity.
Enjoy…this form will help fight off dementia.