Tag Archives: iambic tetrameter

LaCalma

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A form created by Laura Lamarca in June, 2015.

  • Form description:
  • rhyme scheme aaa,bB,cc,dd,bB.
  • 8 syllables per line in iambic tetrameter.
  • 11 lines per stanza. 3 stanzas (33 lines) total.
  • Content must be nurturing, spiritual.

Lamarca’s Example

Form: LaCalma

[Untitled]

Please take this gift to give you hope
and then, in walking, you will cope
without that weight hung on life’s rope.
You are not on your path alone,
there’s two of us on this stroll home,
towards that light which beckons us
amongst those bright stars, just because
it’s where our spirits choose to hide
when human needs have leaked inside
our solid selves of blood and bone.
There’s two of us on this stroll home.

Please take this gift to give you peace
a languid smile, a soft release
so trauma, on your path, will cease.
We do not walk this way with dark,
there is a ray…a lasting spark–
a warm embrace, a lazy kiss
a reason why we walk like this…
as fallen few and guiding lights
we bring lost “feel” on deepest nights
and though we leave no sign or mark
there is a ray…a lasting spark.

Please do not walk without me near
do not begin this road with fear
for to true selves we must adhere
as life clings on to our firm feet,
we must go on, our goals complete.
Raze brambles from our disarray
remove the stains that just can’t stay.
and if you find yourself alone
then don’t fret dear, I’m coming home…
this world shall not, us both, defeat
we must go on, our goals complete.

My Example

Form: LaCalma

No Village Needed

The kids have gone, they’ve left the nest
and now, we thought, we’ve time to rest
that is so wrong; you might have guessed.
The kids move back, the grandkids too –
like me, they want to be near you.
As grandpa now I have my fun –
the pampering has just begun.
The parents change the diapers now
(but grandpa still remembers how)
They like your cooking, that is true –
like me, they want to be near you.

Economy these days does suck,
so with parents some kids are stuck
for grandkids though that is good luck.
They get to live a life that’s swell
Gramps chose his wife so very well.
Papa is constant source of fun
but Grandma is the careful one.
She keeps their enegy constrained
when grandpa acts like he’s untrained;
he knows she will, and you can tell,
Gramps chose his wife so very well.

When a step-niece who grew up wild
became involved and had a child
though there were tears, still Grandma smiled.
Rescuing people was her way
and Grandma does that to this day.
Extended families grow unbid
from thoughtless things teenagers did
yet somehow someone up above
assures the unbid will find love.
Dispensing love is just her way
and Grandma does that to this day.

© Lawrencealot – June 10, 2015

Visual template:

At the time I composed this poem, and template, the form had not yet been named. Since I had to call it something for filing purposes, I called it the Lamarkable, I have since found that Laura named it LaCalma.

Roundabout

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Our Poetic Asides inaugural Poet Laureate, Sara Diane Doyle, has been busy-busy-busy this summer working with teen writers. But not too busy to share with her fellow Poetic Asides crew a new poetic form she developed with one of her students, David Edwards. Since Sara knows the form best, I’ll let her explain the form to you in her own words.
*****
A few months ago I began exploring various poetic forms. With each form I tried, I would post my attempt on a forum for teen writers, where I am a mentor. One of the teens, David Edwards, got interested in forms, especially the “created” forms. He asked if anyone could invent a form and I said “sure!” Then, he got the crazy idea that we should create a form together.
 
To start, we wanted to throw in every poetic element that we really liked. David came up with the meter and feet and I added in the repeating line. We came up with the rhyme scheme and length together. The result is a form we call the Roundabout. In this form, the rhyme scheme comes full circle while offering repetition of one line in each rhyme set. 
 
The Roundabout is a four stanza poem, with each stanza consisting of 5 lines. The poem is written in iambic and the lines have 4 feet, 3 feet, 2 feet, 2 feet and 3 feet respectively. The rhyme scheme is abccb/bcddc/cdaad/dabba. Roundabouts can be on any subject. 
 
Several of the writers on our forum have written Roundabouts and have had a blast.” We would love for other poets to give it a try! Here are some examples to get you started.
 
Crash
by David Edwards
 
Around around the carousel
across the circles face
we cry we shout
we crash about
across the circles face
 
and ever always breakneck pace
by this unending route
and twists and turns
and breaks and burns
by this unending route
 
of ever always in and out
the yearling quickly learns
to run and yell
at ocean’s swell
the yearling quickly learns
 
to run and leap and then he earns
but he will never tell
there’s not a chase
that wins the race
but he will never tell.
 
 
 
When Spring Trips ‘Round
by Sara Diane Doyle
 
When wildflowers bloom once more
and raindrops touch the earth,
the faeries come
to start the hum
and raindrops touch the earth!
 
Come join the song, the dance the mirth!
Enjoy the juicy plum.
beneath the sun
’til day is done-
enjoy the juicy plum!
 
The clouds let out the beating drum-
rejoice with us as one.
Our joy we pour
for pain we bore-
rejoice with us as one.
 
Of gleeful hope, the snow knows none,
but speaks of faeries lore,
of magic birth,
the greatest worth
but speaks of faeries lore.

Pasted from http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/poetry-craft-tips/new-poetic-form-the-roundabout
My Thanks to Poetic-Asides.

Specifications restated:
Roundabout is:
A 20 line poem, attributed to David Edwards
Stanzaic: Consisting of 4 five-line stanza
Metered: Iambic with feet of 4/3/2/2/3 per line
Rhyme Scheme: aBccB bCddC cDaaD dAbbA
Refrain: L2 is repeated as L5 in each stanza

My example

Roundabout

Roundabout (Roundabout)

The driver thought he’d save some time.
although the sign said no.
he’d always say
he knew the way
although the sign said no.

His load was long but even so
’twas shorter this-a-way.
He drove enough
and knew his stuff —
’twas shorter this-a-way.

He shrugged and said “I’ll be okay”,
he put the truck in gear.
He took his time
and did the crime;
he put the truck in gear.

Half through the loop, he could not clear;
it cost him many dime
to learn what’s so;
when he could go
it cost him many dime.

© Lawrencealot – January 20, 2015

Photo credit: taken by poet.

Visual template

Roundabout

Frost's Fire and Ice

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Frost’s Fire and Ice Pattern:
Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” poem has
9 lines
Rhyme Scheme: a-b-a-a-b-c-b-c-b.
Syllable Count for Frost’s poem
is 8-4-8-8-8-7-8-3-4.
The examples follow the rhyme scheme
not syllable count and adds another
stanza. See what combinations you like
the best.

You may see her poems here. http://www.rainbowcommunications.org/velvet/forms/Frosts-Fire-and-Ice.pdf

I am grateful for the work Linda Varsell Smith has done on the Rainbow site, but as she admits, the specifications above are incorrect. What follows are the actual specifications for this form, and a visual template based upon the original work.

Frost’s Fire and Ice Specifications:

Stanzaic: One or more 9 line stanzas.
Rhymed: abaabcbca
Metric: Lines 1 and 3 through 7 are Iambic tetrameter
and Lines 2,8, and 9 are iambic dimeter.

Fire and Ice – by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

My example

Politics(Form: Frost’s Fire and Ice)

Impatient men do risky things
to get ahead.
Their girls they’ll lend to beds of kings,
ignoring any pain that brings.
Such men will pass new laws un-read.
because their leader says they must
They serve themselves in people’s stead
and earn disgust
betrayal brings.

© Lawrencealot – December 25th, 2014

Visual Template

Frosts3

Wavelet

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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… Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.

• The Wavelet is an invented verse form alternating couplets and tercets and introduced by Marie L. Blanche Adams.

The Wavelet is:
○ poem in 12 lines made up of 3 couplets alternating with 2 tercets.
○ metric, the couplets are catalectic iambic trimeter and the tercets are iambic tetrameter,
○ rhymed, aabcbddeceff. The couplets are feminine rhymed dropping the stressed syllable at the end of the line.

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

Religion Soothes (Wavelet)
 
I trust religion
less than a smidgen.
In all I’ve seen it’s pick and choose
among a list of proscribed acts
accompanied with many “do’s.”
Some charismatic
and enigmatic
inspiring guy set forth his book,
ambiguous and short on facts,
but people bit; the concept took.
The sheep are tranquil,
and even thankful.
 
© Lawrencealot – September30,2014

Visual template

Wavelet

Stellar

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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. …. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.
 

The Stellar is an invented stanzaic form framed in octaves and introduced by Viola Berg

The Stellar is:
stanzaic, written in any number of octaves.
metric, iambic L1-L4, & L8 are tetrameter, L5 & L6 are catalectic pentameter and L7 is dimeter.
rhymed, ababccdd efefgghh etc.
because L5 &L6 are catalectic, they have feminine endings.
 

 
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

 

Succinct (Stellar)

Expanding to ad nauseam
on anything at all my friend
upsets folks and soon you’ll see ’em
just anxious for the talk to end.
Kids forced to read by educator,
long epics, – did, but came to hate her.
Don’t write a tome
If you want poems read at home.

© Lawrencealot – September 28, 2014

Visual template

Stellar

Quintette

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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. …. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.

• The Quintette is an invented verse form with an unusually placed refrain. It was created by Fay Lewis Noble.

The Quintette is:
○ a poem in 15 lines made up of 3 quintains.
○ metric, stanza 1 & 3 are iambic pentameter, stanza 2 all lines are iambic, L1,L5 are dimeter and L3 is pentameter and L2,L4 are tetrameter.
○ L1 of the 1st stanza is repeated as L3 of the 2nd stanza and L5 of the 3rd stanza.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme Ababb acAca dadaA.

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.

The Quintette is:
A 15 line poem written in iambic meter
Stanzas 1 and 3 are iambic petameter,
Stanza 2 is dimeter, tetrameter, and pentameter
Rhymed, with refrains: Ababb acAca dadaA.

My example

No Promises to Break (Quintette)

I have no need for dogma in my life.
What is apparent makes me satisfied.
I scoff at those who need an after-life.
Religion’s dogma I cannot abide;
and science too buys dogma, and has lied.

I treasure life
and feel my spirit’s doing well;
I have no need for dogma in my life.
I need no promises to quell
some inner strife.

There’s many things I see, not understood,
and obstacles encountered sometimes rife.
Yet mostly things I see seem pretty good,
and frequently made better by my wife.
I have no need for dogma in my life.

© Lawrencealot – September 20, 2014

Contest entry using Title: Broken Promises
By Author: Clarence Shava

Visual template

Quintette

Neville

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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. …. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.
• Neville is a verse form with a combination of trimeter and tetrameter lines, created in honor of Mrs. Neville Saylor byJames B. Gray.

The Neville is:
○ a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines.
○ metric, L1, L4, & L7 are iambic tetrameter and L2,L3,L5 & L6 are iambic trimeter.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme abbacca.

Macy’s Parade Day by Judi Van Gorder

At times like these when nights are long
and cold becomes a skean
that stabs my flesh between
my shoulder blades, the wind is strong.
I bundle for the chill,
wool scarf a codicil,
then venture out to join the throng.

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

School Lunch Vegetable (Neville)

School Lunch Vegetable

When catsup’s spilled upon my plate,
I’m not disturbed at all.
A puddle large or small
is merely sitting there as bait.
A tasty morsel swipes
then bread or finger wipes.
I can’t remember what I ate.

© Lawrencealot – September 19, 2014

Visual template

Neville

Laurel

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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. …. Whether classroom exercise or sharpening your skill as a writer, some of these forms can be fun to play with.
 
 

The Laurel is another invented verse form created by Viola Berg that switches meter and rhyme between stanzas.

The Laurel is:
a poem in 24 lines, made up of 4 sixains.
metric, L1, L3, L4, L5 are iambic tetrameter, L2 and L6 are iambic trimeter.
rhyme, abcccb adeeed fghhhg fijjji.
the trimeter lines are indented.
 

 

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

 Scorn the Reaper (Laurel)

You won’t find me afraid of him —
the reaper with the scythe.
I never was before this day;
I haven’t lived my life that way,
and that’s the way it’s gonna stay
as I run out my life.

He’s pictured as a guy that’s grim
but that’s a fantasy.
A tale that’s told (to what avail),
with heaven added to your hell?
I’ll live my life, and live it well,
for what shall be shall be.

My organs all shall pass to dust
as someday will the stars.
Before my intermission comes
I’ll eat fresh fruit and dried-out plums
I’ll dance to music played by drums
banjos and steel guitars.

I’ll acquire lovers, friends, and trust
that measure suits me fine.
My body’s served me, so’s my mind.
The body part, I’ll leave behind,
I’m not sure what my mind might find
and claim at last as mine.

© Lawrencealot – September 14, 2014

Visual template

Laurel

Briolette

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• The Briolette was invented in the 1950s by Viola Berg.

The Briolette is:
○ stanzaic, can be composed in any number of cinquains made up of a triplet and a rhyming couplet.
○ metric, iambic tetrameter.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme aaabb cccdd etc.

 Briolette of India by Judi Van Gorder
The Maharajah claimed it cursed
the diamond cut to quench a thirst.
King Richard, Lion Hearted, erst
would take the gem on his crusade,
a brilliance which will never fade.

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

Shifting Gears (Briolette)

When age starts creeping up on you,
and physical restraints accrue
I wouldn’t quit if I were you
because at that time you will find
untapped resources in your mind.

The mountain trails you used to climb
are now denied – it seems a crime,
but render them to me in rhyme
that’s something which you didn’t do
while you were scrambling for the view.

Without much money in your purse
and your arthritis getting worse
a shared experience penned in verse
extends your life beyond your days
to generations in the haze.

©Lawrencealot – September 2, 2014

Visual template
Briolette

Orvillette

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I found a few invented forms which appear to be exclusive to The Study and Writing of Poetry; American Women Poets Discuss Their Craft, 1983. The book is a collection of essays from 50 American women poets, each essay provides insights into a multitude of topics from poetic genres, stanzaic forms, to writing techniques. This book provided some addition insights and background information on several stanzaic forms that I thought I had researched fully. I liked this book, it pays attention to the details.

• The Orvillette is an invented verse form crated by Virginia Noble as a tribute to her son, Orville, a disabled World War II paratrouper. 

The Orvillette is:
○ a verse form, written in 4 quatrains, a poem in 16 lines.
○ metered, iambic tetrameter.
○ composed with a refrain and a rentrament. L1 is repeated as L1 in each quatrain. The first 3 syllables of L4 are repeated as the first 3 syllables of L4 in each quatrain.
○ rhymed, Raba Rcbc Rdbd Rebe. L3 of each stanza carries a linking rhyme between stanzas.

x x x x x x x R
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x x x b
r r r x x x x a

x x x x x x x R
x x x x x x x c
x x x x x x x b
r r r x x x x c etc.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2008#anna
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

My Tin of Paints (Orvillette)

My Tin of Paints

My tin of paints contains it all
from places that I’ve never been
with scenes that scare me and enthrall,
important only now and then.

My tin of paints contains it all
A dragon facing me one day
gives way to maidens lithe and tall.
Important things those pictures say.

My tin of paints contains it all
I play, or get things off my chest.
No picture ever seems banal
Important feelings are expressed.

My tin of paints contains it all
With my own brush and putty-knife
and my inventive wherewithal
Important times are brought to life.

© Lawrencealot – August 24, 2014

Visual Template
Although it is not mandated, I chose the refrain end word rhyme to agree with the b-rhyme.
Orvillette