Tag Archives: meter optional

Brace Octave

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Brace Octave
Type:
Structure, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Stanzaic
Description:
An eight-line stanzaic form with rhyme of abbaabba or abbacddc. No requirements on meter or length. The Italian octave is a subgenre of this.
Origin:
English
Schematic:
abbaabba or abbacddc
Rhythm/Stanza Length:
8
See Also:
Status:
Incomplete
My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his fine Poetrybase resource.
Brace Octave ——————————————
The Brace Octave has its roots in music. The brace is the wavey symbol that joins 2 staffs of music, indicating that both scores are played simultaneously. The verse form referred to as the Brace Octave is a lyrical blend of meter and rhyme, the rhyme scheme almost taking the shape of the brace. It could even be said that the octave itself acts as a brace joining two envelope quatrains.
The Brace Octave is:
  • stanzaic, written in any number of octaves (8 lines) made up of 2 envelope quatrains. When writing more than one octave, even numbered stanzas grouped in twos seems to fit best with the venue of the form.
  • metric, iambic tetrameter. Some sources indicate no meter necessary but given the musical nature of the verse, it seems to me measured lines are appropriate if not a prerequisite. The best known poem utilizing the Brace Octave is Two Songs from a Play by W.B. Yeats which is written in iambic tetrameter so I guess Mr. Yeats agrees with me.
  • rhymed, with an envelope rhyme scheme abbacddc (see it does sort of look like a brace lying down.)
    Here is     William Butler Yeats’ poem which was published in his book The Towerin 1928. There is a footnote from Yeats “These songs were sung by musicians in my play Resurrection.”
Two Songs from a Play by William Butler Yeats
I
I saw a staring virgin stand
Where holy Dionysus died,
And tear the heart out of his side.
And lay the heart upon her hand
And bear that beating heart away;
Of Magnus Annus at the spring,
And then did all the Muses sing
As though God’s death were but a play.
Another Troy must rise and set,
Another lineage feed the crow,
Another Argo’s painted prow
Drive to a flashier bauble yet.
The Roman Empire stood appalled:
It dropped the reins of peace and war
When that fierce virgin and her Star
Out of the fabulous darkness called.
II
In pity for man’s darkening thought
He walked that room and issued thence
In Galilean turbulence;
The Babylonian starlight brought
A fabulous, formless darkness in;
Odour of blood when Christ was slain
Made all platonic tolerance vain
And vain all Doric discipline.
Everything that man esteems
Endures a moment or a day.
Love’s pleasure drives his love away,
The painter’s brush consumes his dreams;
The herald’s cry, the soldier’s tread
Exhaust his glory and his might:
Whatever flames upon the night
Man’s own resinous heart has fed.
My thanks to Judy Van Gorder from PMO for the above.  I
 tend to agree with her conceptually about the meter and line length, but many do not.  Below is a poem that strays from isosyllabic lines and abandons consistent meter.
~Love Is Not Just  A State Of Mind~
(Brace Octave)
Love is a very beautiful feeling
Can make you sappy or happy
And at times can give you  healing
Sometimes makes us so unhappy
You reach the stars or hit the ceiling
Emotions makes us  sad or happy
Love is not just a state of mind
For in your heart love you can find
Dorian Petersen Potter
aka ladydp2000
copyright@2011
My example poem
Short Shrift    (Brace Octave)
I tell ya friend
it’s quite okay
to write this way
or else append
sounds to extend
the word array
with more to say
from start to end.
© Lawrencealot – April 20, 2014
Although I do believe that more pleasant poetry results from utilizing meter and a consistent line length of iambic tetrameter or longer, I have to allow any octave using envelope rhyme to be tagged with this name.

Dansa

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Dansa
The dansa is an Occitan verse form i.e. it’s from the troubadour territory of southern France. All the verses except the first are the same: they rhyme aabb with the last line a repeated refrain. The first verse has five lines, and consists of the refrain followed by four lines similar to all the other verses. No particular metre is essential, but Skelton says six-syllable lines are common in Occitan verse, so that’s what I used.
A Load of Rot
Mulching is the future!
Let those clippings lie there,
Proving how much you care.
For lawns needing nurture,
Mulching is the future.
Don’t clear up that cut grass!
Lie down; let the urge pass.
Be at one with nature –
Mulching is the future.
You need no-one’s pardon;
This is your own garden.
For your private pasture,
Mulching is the future.
Your leisure is well-earned.
Relax; don’t be concerned.
Look, see the big picture:
Mulching is the future.
What you leave will decay.
It will provide one day
Nutrients and moisture.
Mulching is the future.
Don’t get up; better far
To stay right where you are.
As with any creature,
Mulching is your future.
I saw a lawnmower on sale with the slogan “Mulching is the future”. I found it a catchy slogan but a depressing thought. Still, there had to be a poem in it… It was just a question of finding a suitable verse form. I think the dansa was a fair choice.
I cheated slightly by altering one word in the final repetition of the refrain.  Poetic licence.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
My example poem-
Since Bob used a slogan, I did too.  Though meter optional, I chose iambic trimeter.
Intrigue     (Dansa)
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
If you but only knew.
Instead you have no clue.
So what is it to be?
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
A guy, you can just ask,
it’s such a simple task
It can’t sound like a plea,
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
Why should you really care
what color is her hair.
But when it comes to me,
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
© Lawrencealot – April 12, 2014
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Chaucerian Roundel

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Chaucerian Roundel
The Chaucerian roundel was developed by (obviously) Chaucer from (less obviously) the rondel rather than the roundel – not that there’s a huge amount of difference.  This example is dedicated to the Athenian gentleman who, in an e-mail, described my website as a “labor of love” (yes, it was Athens, Georgia). 
Ambition 
I’d like to do this all the time.
It doesn’t pay, but I confess
I love my day job rather less.
I’m tiring of the search for rhyme
And reason in life’s heaving mess.
I’d like to do this all the time.
A poet’s life must be sublime.
Those lucky few the gods would bless
Breathe only poetry. Oh yes,
I’d like to do this all the time. 
As with the rondel etc, there is a refrain, the first line being repeated at the end of the second and third stanzas. The rhyming scheme is Abb; abA; abbA, (AbbabAabbA) where the capital A’s denote the repetition of entire lines. No particular line length or metre is required.
My Thanks to Bob Newman for the wonderful resources at Volecentral.
The Chaucerian Roundel is closer to the French Rondel than the English Roundel. It is named for its originator Geoffrey Chaucer who has been said to write his Knight’s tale in the roundel, the rondel and the rondeau (take your pick). This verse form was found at Vol Central
The Chaucerian Roundel is:
  • a decastich, made up of 2 tercets followed by a quatrain.
  • written in no particular line length or meter although the form is often written in lines of equal length. Iambic tetrameter or pentameter lines are common.
  • rhymed Abb abA abbA , the A is a refrain.
  • composed with a refrain; L1 is repeated as a refrain in L6 and L10.
Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/667-chaucerian-roundel/>(line length optional, meter optional)
My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO.
My Example Poem
Could Be     (Chaucerian Roundel)
Could be our troubles are a state of mind,
could be that they’re imposed and very real,
like acts of God that man cannot appeal.
But social troubles I suspect you’ll find
depend to great extent on how you feel,
could be our troubles are a state of mind.
If one decides to leave ones woes behind
and acts accordingly with honest zeal
he’ll find that other’s slights are no big deal;
could be our troubles are a state of mind.
© Lawrencealot – February 12, 2014
Visual Template
(note: although line length and meter are not required,
  this is set up for iambic pentameter)

Tri-Duet

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This form was created by Willam J. Reed IV, writing on Allpoetry as BluesMan.The author provided no other specifications than that the poem must consist of six or more tercets, but in his sample poem the first two lines were shorter than the third.
Rhyme pattern aab ccb dde ffe ggh iif
For my template I have use tri-meter and tetrameter, generally iambic.
THIS IS NOT A NEW rhyme pattern but merely a treatment of either the Alouette, or the form we call the Bush Ballad Meter. Both of which use the same rhyme pattern and line length differentiation, but in sestets as opposed to tercets.
Example Poem
Reverting (Tri-Duet)
My days are fulfilling
and though I am willing
to venture to new avenues,
if they should prove boring
and not worth exploring
my effort you must then excuse.
Not wanting to slight you-
with hopes to delight you,
I’ll manifest meter I think.
This form sings with a beat
that I find rather neat
so I’ll try to not make this stink.
When each day I awake
I say “Oh heaven’s sake!
I’ve found a new form to be learned”.
If writing in meter
results in defeat or
I fail in my try- still I yearned.
© Lawrencealot – January 14, 2014
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Sicilian Sestet

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Sicilian Sestet
Possessing similar origins, as the Italian Sestet, 
the Sicilian sestet had no set meter, but the 
anglicised version uses Iambic tetrameter or pentameter.
The rhyme pattern is as follows; ababab
Example Poem
Write a Sicilian Sestet
Sicilian sestets have most simple rhyme. 
The metric foot can be both four and five,
(but not at once), just one poem at a time. 
Here pentameter iambs are alive. 
Don’t strain yourself in finding rhyme like I’m. 
Just think ahead and then you can survive. 
© Lawrencealot – July 25, 2012
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Shadorma

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I’m not willing to call this a Spanish form, even though it could be;  it was more likely invented by a disenchanted poet tired of all of the differing and conflicting versions of Haiku popping up.  In the next three lines I’ll list everything we KNOW about the form, then some of the sources you might find interesting, including a real beautiful work by Amera.
It is stanzaic, consisting of one or more sestets
It is syllabic 3/5/3/3/7/5
Rhyme and meter are optional
The Shadorma is a Spanish poetic form made up of a stanza of six lines
(sestet)  with no set rhyme scheme.
 It is a syllabic poem with a meter of 3/5/3/3/7/5.
It can have many stanzas, as long as each follows the meter.
Little is known about this poetic style’s origins and history
but it is used by many modern poets today.
This variation of the haiku, which is evident by its syllable pattern,
can be seen in use in many writing venues.
The Shadorma is a poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza (or sestet). The form is alleged to have originated in Spain. Each stanza has a syllable count of three syllables in the first line, five syllables in the second line, three syllables in the third and fourth lines, seven syllables in the fifth line, and five syllables in the sixth line (3/5/3/3/7/5) for a total of 26 syllables. A poem may consist of one stanza, or an unlimited number of stanzas (a series of shadormas).
It has been suggested[by whom?] that the shadorma is not a historical poetic form as it is alleged to be by those who have recently revived and popularized it. There is no evidence of extant early Spanish poetry using this form. Further, the word shadorma does not appear in Spanish-language dictionaries, and no examples of the early usage of the form appear in poetry textbooks or anthologies. Further, there is no literary criticism regarding its history in Spanish literature. Considering this, the alleged history of the shadorma may be modern hoax or the poetic equivalent of an urban legend. However, the shadorma has been used by many modern writers[citation needed] and is a popular writing exercise in creative writing programs and workshops.
The Shadorma Joke
November 2, 2012 by Sabio Lantz
The Shadorma Joke
Shadorma!
But who’da known it.
Started as
a small lie.
Now has widely multiplied.
Myth Poetica!
Background:  Posted for: Poets United, my “poem” above, is a “Shadorma”.   The “Shadorma” is purported to be a haiku-like Spanish poetic form with one or more stanza of six lines (sestet) with 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines respectively and no set rhyme scheme.
But here is the point of my poem: I can’t find any evidence for the history of this “form”. Did someone make it up?  Is it just an internet-myth and not a historical fact?  Poetry sites that I have found, just echo each other saying “Little is known about this poetic style’s origins and history but it is used by many modern poets today.”
Make Me
Close the door
And turn off the light
Come adore
Mi amore
In fantasy and delight
Come my love, explore
For so long
I’ve waited for you
Come along
We belong
Entwined in a love for two
Come… and make me strong
Close the door
And lie here with me
Make me soar
Fill my core
Come take me to ecstasy
Make me want you more
Example Poem
He Did It!
Shadorma
is a recent work
invented
if you will
by a bored U.S. mail clerk
who held verse in scorn.
Haiku, hell!
They’re Japan’s, and short.
They can’t rhyme-
that’s a crime;
let this form be my retort.
This is English, sport.
Without rhyme
first, and then I tried
and here I’m
satisfied
with plain alternating rhyme.
I’ll change every time.
Interlaced
when it’s not end-placed
Like this you
Kiss the line
below- oft called internal,
but that’s wrong you know.
Shadorma
sounded Spanish though
Korean
it is not.
I’m content to let it go
The form’s pretty hot.
© Lawrencealot – December 9, 2013
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Vers Beaucoup

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  • Vers Beaucoup French-many rhymes) is an invented stanzaic form that is riddled with rhyme. Created by Curt Mongold who suggest the lines within the quatrains be enjambed. The Vers Beaucoup is:
    • stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
    • metered at the discretion of the poet.
    • rhymed, including multiple internal rhyme sounds. Rhyme scheme (a-a-a)(a-b-b)(b-c-c)(c-d-d) (e-e-e)(e-f-f)(f-g-g)(g-h-h) etc.
 My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the fine resource at PMO
My example poem.
Stamp Collecting Hazards     (Vers Beaucoup)
It’s wrong that all along she showed her thong,
so wrong- and it was camp for that young vamp
with stamp upon her back to show such lack
of tact when it is said that she is wed.
She’s not a gal I’d caught, or even thought
a lot about but yet I’d like to sweat
and pet without concern that I discern
I’d earn when mister stamp collects his tramp.
© Lawrencealot- Dec 8, 2013
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Lilibonelle

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BASIC FORM:   The Lilibonelle was created by Sol Magazine editor, Bonnie Williams.
It is:
Stanzaic: Consisting of at least 4 stanzas
Syllabic:  Lines may be of unequal, unspecified length 
Refrain:  The nth line of the 1st stanza must be the first line of the nth stanza.
Meter is optional and encouraged.
Rhyme is optional and encouraged.
Theme:  One should use an introspective or reflective theme with this form, one that conveys a loving, wistful or poignant feeling.
Those are ALL of the Requirements, although I have found on at least two other sites statements indicated that a specific  (though differing) rhyme scheme is required.
I have posted Bonnie Williams on poem (which is rhymed, but not metered) and her explanation of the form  below. 
— Larry Eberhart, penning on Allpoetry.com as Lawrencealot
________________________________________
The following by Bonnie Williams
LILIBONELLE
BASIC FORM:   The Lilibonelle was created by Sol Magazine editor, Bonnie Williams. 
The basic form is four stanzas of four lines each, in which each line of the first stanza is consecutively repeated as the first line of each of the other stanzas, and allows for a variation where an extra final line may be included.  
Use an introspective or reflective theme with this form, one that conveys a loving, wistful or poignant feeling.
Poets must use the basic form for poems entered into competition at Sol Magazine unless a notation to the contrary is made within the contest notes.
EXPANDED FORM:  As long as there are a minimum of four lines and four stanzas, and the lines of the first stanza are used as the opening lines of the successive stanzas, the poem may be considered a Lilibonelle.
 Poets are encouraged to play with rhyme schemes, rhythm, repeated ending line, or other creative twists.
 If there are five stanzas, use five lines per stanza.  If six stanzas, use six lines per stanza.  In any case, poets may always end the final stanza with an extra line.
Pattern:
Stanza 1 line 1 
Stanza 1 line 2 
Stanza 1 line 3 
Stanza 1 line 4
Stanza 2 line 1 repeats Stanza 1 line 2 
Stanza 2 line 2 
Stanza 2 line 3 
Stanza 2 line 4
Stanza 3 line 1 repeats Stanza 1 line 3 
Stanza 3 line 2 
Stanza 3 line 3 
Stanza 3 line 4
Stanza 4 line 1 repeats Stanza 1 line 4 
Stanza 4 line 2 
Stanza 4 line 3 
Stanza 4 line 4 
Example of the Basic Form:
Bells
that sweet ringing of early morn 
alights my eyes and thrills my soul 
a wealth of love enveloping me 
filling my heart making me whole
alights my eyes and thrills my soul 
a warmth encircling from heart to toes 
trembling hearing soft sweet songs 
the melodies of loving shows
a wealth of love enveloping me 
treasure beyond compare 
when holding warm and near like this 
much closer than the air
filling my heart and making me whole 
a passion so deep we have sworn 
our love will last eternally 
as sweet ringings open each morn…
Bonnie Williams, Deptford, NJ, US
___________________________________________________
The following essay compare the Lilibonelle and the Retourne
“Lilibonelle vs. Retourne”
an essay by Roy Schwartzman, Sol Magazine’s Forms Investigator
This is a discussion of two similar yet distinct forms, the Lilibonelle and the Retourne.  The two forms operate in the same manner, with lines of subsequent stanzas generated from lines of the first stanza.  Typically both forms begin with a Quatrain, with each line of the first Quatrain becoming the first line of a subsequent Quatrain.  Thus the Lilibonelle and the Retourne look alike at this point, as the Sol Magazine encyclopedia of poetry forms indicates:
Stanza 1 line 1
Stanza 1 line 2
Stanza 1 line 3
Stanza 1 line 4
Stanza 2 line 1 repeats Stanza 1 line 2
Stanza 2 line 2
Stanza 2 line 3
Stanza 2 line 4
Stanza 3 line 1 repeats Stanza 1 line 3
Stanza 3 line 2
Stanza 3 line 3
Stanza 3 line 4
Stanza 4 line 1 repeats Stanza 1 line 4
Stanza 4 line 2
Stanza 4 line 3
Stanza 4 line 4
The Retourne, as the name indicates, is a French form.  The Lilibonelle, however, allows many more variations than the Retourne.  A Lilibonelle has no metrical restriction, but each line of a Retourne is in tetrameter, eight syllables per line.
Furthermore, a Lilibonelle may consist of stanzas that contain any number of lines as long all stanzas have the same number of lines and the lines of the first stanza are repeated according to the specified pattern.
The stanzas of Retournes are Quatrains, so a Retourne will have sixteen lines.  The Retourne is a more restrictive form, both metrically and in length.  Neither form requires a specific rhyme scheme.
Why might a poet select either or both these forms?  The repetition of lines from the initial stanza allows a single theme to be developed throughout the poem.  Since the lines appear in different stanzas, the same idea can emerge in different senses as the poem develops.  These forms also hold the potential for the ideas in each line of the first stanza to be extended later, gradually adding depth and complexity to the poem’s theme.
My example poem: which is attempted  in iambic tetrameter, with my own rhyme pattern.
Dazed and Comfortable     (Lilibonelle)
I had my life all figured out,
the girls were only games to play.
But something happened on the way,
and love changed things, there is no doubt.
The girls were only games to play
I thought before I met Marie,
each night another victory.
Whatever happened was OK.
But something happened on the way,
I’m caught, and don’t want to be free.
That cannot be,  it’s just not me!
My blacks and whites have turned to grey.
And love changed things, there is no doubt.
Marie’s now what my life’s about.
And planning now must play a role
for her happiness is my goal.
© Lawrencealot – December 3, 2013
A visual template used for the above poem.
NOTE: neither the meter, the line length, nor the rhyme pattern is required.

Triple Rebel Round

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This form was invented her by Rebel_Coyote of AllPoetry.com.

The poem consists of Three 5-line stanzas.
There are two styles,each having a triplet mono-rhyme. Version 1:  aaaBB cccBB dddBB
Version 2:  aaBBB ccBBB ddBBB
Each Stanza has the first three lines of  mono-rhyme, followed by a two line refrain
of a different mono-rhyme.  The refrain occurs in the following two stanzas as well.
The second style is changed only in that it uses a THREE-line Refrain
As in this sample “Let’s Write a Triple Rebel Round”
No meter is specified, but tetrameter or pentameter is suggested.
Example Poem
Momma Lost Me
My mother worked at Woolworths five and ten
and she’d let me ride to town now and then.
The bus driver knew where she worked and when.
At five years old the bus ride was great fun.
“Just stay aboard, I’ll get you little one.”
Nana’d put me on and she’d pay the fare.
When we reach her stop, momma would be there.
Except the time she wasn’t anywhere.
At five years old the bus ride was great fun.
“Just stay aboard, I’ll get you little one.”
We passed the stop– I ‘membered what she said.
The driver winked “Let’s see what lies ahead.”
Mom found me on our return trip instead.
At five years old the bus ride was great fun.
“Just stay aboard, I’ll get you little one.”
(c) Lawrencealot – 2012
Note: This was about 67 years ago in Ogden, Utah
A much safer time and place.  As usual the parent suffers more than the child.
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Trolaan

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Trolaan, created by Valerie Peterson Brown, is a poem consisting of 4 quatrains.
Each quatrain begins with the same letter. The rhyme scheme is abab.
Starting with the second stanza you use the second letter of the first line of the first stanza to write the second each line beginning with that letter.
On the third stanza you will use the second letter on the first line of the second stanza and write the third each line beginning with that letter.
On the fourth stanza you will use the second letter on the first line of the third stanza and write the fourth each line beginning with that letter.
There is no mandatory line length or meter specified. (Added)
Example #1:
Distraught Blessings
Desire the sound or hope,
deluding minds in darkness.
Daunting though its scope,
deluged now with the access.
Elope into the morrow,
envelope me with song.
Enclose me now in sorrow
easing against the throng.
Longing for succulent prospect,
laying waste to eager night,
Lopsided in neglect,
listless with delight.
Only now will I protest,
owning nothing less.
Opening now I detest,
one more time to bless
.
Copyright © 2008 Valerie Peterson Brown
 
My example poem
In Sincerity, One Word or Two     (Trolaan)
Don’t you now know I love you so?
Did I not tell you many times?
Do leaves not rustle when wind blows?
Devotion I spell out in rhymes.
Oh Sweetheart, never doubt my love.
Other young ladies hit on me.
Occasionally I will sort of
Omit offending, don’t you see?
How can you feel demeaned, my sweet?
Harangues are not required at all.
Heaven knows they are not as neat.
Have trust! I love you most of all.
Open relationships are fun.
Of course I only play around
on those times I am with someone.
Otherwise, it’s with you I’m found.
© Lawrencealot – July 7, 2013
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