Tag Archives: Newman

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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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

Deibide Baise Fri Toin

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Deibide Baise Fri Toin
A similar name, but not much in common with the common-or-garden deibide, apart from being Irish. I don’t know how to pronounce this one, or the literal meaning of its name, but here’s what the verse form looks like:
Against Vegetation
Move! Without
doubt it helps to get about.
Except for triffids, a plant
can’t.
Poor daisies!
In peril as cow grazes,
prospects of survival not
hot.
Such fodder
can’t flee even a plodder;
inferior to the least
beast.
No better,
the shiftless non-go-getter,
potato sat on a couch.
Ouch!
The syllable count is 3/7/7/1 and it rhymes aabb. It is essential to the form that the a rhymes have two syllables, and the b rhymes have one syllable. There are a fair number of Irish forms – some of them with longer and more unpronounceable names – and most of them stipulate the type of rhyme as precisely as this.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
My example poem
Wet Cats     (Deibide Baise Fri Toin)
Don’t worry
although they’re sometimes furry
it’s okay to get a pet
wet.
Don’t insist
on fresh fish they can’t resist;
cats can convert once they’ve tried
fried.
I’m inclined
to think cats are not refined,
but just aloof. I don’t know
though.
© Lawrencealot – April 11, 2014
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Note: two syllable rhyme

Deibhidhe

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Deibhidhe
The deibhidhe is an Irish form. In English it is more often spelt deibide, but you still have to pronounce it jayvee. (The Irish language uses a lot of unlikely-looking clusters of consonants, and most of them seem to be either pronounced as “v” or not pronounced at all. Exercise: pronounce the name of the poet Medbh McGuckian.) 
Here’s a deibhidhe about the time I spent working in the oil industry:
No, Watercolour…
Of a subject dire I sing:
Reservoir Engineering
I could never understand –
A queer and quaggy quicksand!
I was sent away to learn
About it in climes northern,
But while at Herriot-Watt
My zeal did not run riot.
All the years I worked in oil,
My conscience was in turmoil.
I floundered through the fog
Like a bogged-down wan warthog.
My colleagues would make a fuss.
Those strata – were they porous?
It bothered me not a whit
How the drill bit grey granite.
The mysteries of the rock
Made me feel like a pillock.
Underground movements of gas
Alas, my mind can’t compass.
I don’t work there any more,
Redundancy my saviour.
Not a tragedy at all –
A small but welcome windfall!
There was a TV advert for an airline some years ago which featured the following exchange between two passengers on a flight to Aberdeen. Large outgoing American: “D’you work in oil?” Weedy-looking bespectacled Brit: “No, watercolour.” Hence the title. Herriot-Watt University is situated near Edinburgh and offers week-long courses on such arcane subjects as Reservoir Engineering, cleverly sugaring the pill by making them coincide with the Edinburgh Festival.
As for the form, each stanza has 4 lines of 7 syllables each, rhyming aabb, and both of these rhymes are deibide rhymes i.e. in the first line of each rhyming pair, the rhyming syllable is stressed, and in the second it is unstressed.
The form also demands an aicill rhyme between lines 3 and 4 i.e. the word at the end of line 3 rhymes with a word somewhere in the middle of line 4 (as whit/bit, gas/alas above). 
Finally, there must be alliteration between the last word of each stanza and the preceding stressed word (as quaggy quicksand, welcome windfall above).
This amounts to a lot of constraints for the fourth line to satisfy in the space of only 7 syllables. I found this form a tough one, except when writing the last stanza. Perhaps I was getting into the swing of it by then.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
Specifications restated:
Isosyllabic: 7/7/7/7
Rhymed: aabb
My example poem
Night Nymph     (Deibhidhe)
I was mesmerized, entranced
when she stood in the entrance.
Just one glance at her’d confer
instantly a pure pleasure
The nymph caused my heart to sing
and set my nerves to dancing
I viewed her in near undress
and dreamed she’d be my mistress.
But it was not meant to be,
this maiden oh so pretty.
for she was gone with the sun
a nighttime visit vision.
© Lawrencealot – April 10, 2014
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Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Ocus Lethrannaigecht

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Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Ocus Lethrannaigecht
This is an Irish verse form. The name means “Sorry, the translator can’t take your call at the moment”. No, I’m kidding. I have no idea what it means, and not much idea how to pronounce it, though I expect there will be a few “v” sounds in there somewhere. I chose to tackle it because it had the longest name of any in Skelton’s book.
The form calls for 4-line stanzas rhyming abab, with syllable counts of 7/5/7/5. Being Irish, the lengths of the rhyming words are also specified, in this case as 3, 1, 3, 1. Note though that the 3’s don’t necessarily indicate triple rhymes; the requirement is simply that the rhyming words are three syllables long. The stress could be on any of the three syllables.
This example was provoked (I hesitate to say inspired) by the “MP’s expenses” scandal/hysteria of 2009. It amounts to propaganda for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, a long-established and respected force in British politics. At the time of the 1983 general election, when party splits were fashionable, there was a rival group called the Green Chicken Alliance.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
My Example Poem
Suave     (Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Ocus Lethrannaigecht)
The man was not a millionaire
but ladies sought him out
for he appeared most debonair
and kind without a doubt.
He was at all times affable
with handshake or a hug,
and the idea was laughable
to picture him as smug.
His notions all seemed prevalent
well thought out and germane,
considered and most relevant
and certainly urbane.
He has a style to emulate,
a model for my role.
I’ll have a cause to celebrate
If I achieve that goal.
© Lawrencealot – April 10, 2014
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The a-rhymes must be triple rhyme

Ch'I Yen Shih

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Ch’i-Yen-Shih metre
This is, believe it or not, a Chinese verse form. Whether it’s worth doing in English is debatable. Stanzas have four lines of seven syllables each, with lines 2 and 4 rhyming. Each line has a caesura, or break, after the fourth syllable; I have laid the example out to emphasise this. That’s all there is to it, really, except that, to make it sound a little more Chinese, only words of one syllable should be used. 
Fenland
Long straight black road
far from home.
The moon hangs snagged
in the trees.
Foot down, I speed
through the night.
Rain falls in sheets,
starts to freeze.
The cats eyes pulse
like Morse code.
Far sparks speed close,
blaze then fade.
For hours on end
there’s no change:
Road, light, rain, wind,
screen and blade.
I’m tired and cold,
on my own.
How much of this
can I take?
I grit my teeth,
try to guess
How long I’ll last
till I brake.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site
Ancient Verse is probably the same verse form as Ch’I Yen Shih from the Lu Shi code verse. Ancient Verse is found desribed in John Drury’s poe-try-dic-tion-ar-y and is similar to Ch’I Yen Shi, with slight variation. As described by Drury, caesura was not specified and more latitude was given in the character count. This is probably an example of how form evolves or is corrupted by translation. For now I will treat this verse form as separate.
(Drury uses “syllable count”) Technically in Chinese prosody, character count and syllable count are one in the same since Chinese characters are one word and Chinese words are usually one syllable. However in English translation, a character could represent a 2 or 3 syllable English word. I use “character” in most of my metric descriptions of Chinese verse and often count words rather than syllables when attempting to write poems using Chinese verse forms in English. However, since Drury’s book describes the meter for this form as syllabic, I follow his lead.
Ancient Verse is:
  • stanzaic, written in quatrains.
  • syllabic, 5 to 7 syllable lines. isosyllabic (7/7/7/7) or (5/5/5/5)
  • rhymed, rhyme scheme either xaxa xaxa etc or xaxa xbxb etc. ( xaxaxaxa etc or xaxaxbxb)
  • no fixed tone pattern.
  • always composed with parallels and balance.
    pyramid by Judi Van Gorder
  • fresh dug dirt makes space and waits
  • rich earth forms a pyramid
    to welcome polished pine box
    with white roses on the lid
Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for her wonderful PMO resource site.
My example poem
Surveillance       (Ch’I Yen Shih)
My house has eyes in the dark
Big dogs see but first they smell.
I don’t switch them – off or on
still they serve as my door bell.
© Lawrencealot – April 9, 2014
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Lyrette

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  • The Lyrette is a syllabic invented verse form created by Dr. Israel Newman.The Lyrette is:
    • a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines.
    • syllabic, 2/3/4/5/4/3/2 syllables per line.
    • unrhymed.
    • each line should end with strong word.
My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO
Example poem
Our Store – circa 1949 (Lyrette)We walked
to the store
that had two aisles
for sundries and food
and through the door
malted milks
were sold.
© Lawrencealot – March 31, 2014

Rustavelian Quatrain or Shairi

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Shairi, or Rustavelian Quatrain
Shota Rustaveli wroteThe Knight in the Panther’s Skin, Georgia’s national epic, towards the end of the twelfth century. It tells of a young prince helping to find a friend’s beloved, who has been captured by devils. Rustaveli used a particularly difficult form for it, known by the Georgian word shairi. 
The recommended rules for English-language shairi are: 4-line stanzas, with all four lines rhyming with one another. The lines are unusually long, having 15 or 16 syllables, and all the rhymes are of either two or three syllables.  
Note for purists
In Georgia, each line of a shairi has exactly 16 syllables, and they recognise two varieties of the form. In a magali (high) shairi stanza the syllables divide 4/4//4/4 (in each of the four lines), whereas in a dabali (low) shairi they divide 5/3//5/3. InThe Knight in the Panther’s Skin (or Vepkhis Tqaosani, if you prefer), Rustaveli alternated magali and dabali stanzas for the entire length of the poem – no fewer than 1576 stanzas. 
© Bob Newman 2004, 2005. All rights reserved.

My thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful resource above.

Restated specifications:
Stanzaic, quatrains, mono rhyme, multi-syllabic rhyme

 Example Poem
 
 Redirected Feelings     (Rustavelian Quatrain)
 
She faced each day with deep desires- that seemed to her distressing.
Her husband’s morally correct, and counts his wife a blessing 
and’s careful to avoid an act that might call for confessing, 
and sadly that means he won’t watch his pretty wife undressing. 
 
His attitude left her in doubt that her looks were appealing. 
So secretly she bought some clothes- the kind that are revealing, 
then once each week would flash to men the charms she’d been concealing. 
To watch men stare at cleavage bare, aroused in her warm feelings. 
 
She soon could not deny the rush- the moist and warm sensation- 
so weekly outings multiplied; then there was escalation. 
Her exhibition soon became a road to fun flirtation,
a road she knew was but a path, a path to her damnation. 
 
She told herself, “This path is wrong! I’ll stop, what I’m inviting. 
I’ll find a hobby stay at home although that’s less exciting.” 
She switched her gears, and it appears, more people she’s delighting, 
She’s famous now, and satisfied with her erotic writing.
©Lawrencealot – February 28, 2014

Visual Template (15 syllable option)

 

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)

Rimas Dissolutas

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This was originally a French form
 The form is isosyllabic  (all lines have the same number of syllables)
Meter optional
Line length optional
There is no stanza length requirement
There is no rhyming permitted within a stanza.
Each stanza must be like each other stanza
(same number of syllables, meter if any ,line length)
Line n in each stanza must rhyme with the same line in each other stanza. (External Rhyme)
Other sources:**************************************************
The Rimas Dissolutas is a French troubadouric verse (12th-13th centuries) in which unrhymed stanzas rhyme line by line with all of the other stanzas. This was a departure from the strict rhyme schemes of the day. The rhyme is there but it is more subtle.
The Rimas Dissolutas is:
  • stanzaic, written in any # of uniform length stanzas, all quatrains or all tercets or all sixains etc.
  • in keeping with most old French forms the verse is syllabic. One site suggests it is isosyllabic meaning all lines have the same number syllables, number of syllables at the discretion of the poet.
  • unrhymed lines within the stanza.
  • rhymed lines between stanzas.
  • sometimes written with an envoi which would be half the number of lines of the stanzas using the rhyme of the later lines of the stanzas.If the poem was written in sixains the rhyme would look like this:
Stanza 1
x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x c
x x x x x d
x x x x x e
Add’l Stanzas
x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x c
x x x x x d
x x x x x e
Envoi…
x x x x x c
x x x x x d
Thanks to Ms.  Van Gorder for the find PMO resorce.
Rimas Dissolutas (Troubadouric song)
I was delighted to discover recently that this was recognised – in some quarters, anyway – as a standard form, and had a name. In rimas dissolutas, the stanzas are all similar, and all use the same rhymes. The first lines all rhyme with each other, the second lines all rhyme with each other, and so on. These are all external rhymes; there are no rhymes between lines in the same stanza. 
The blessed Malcovati calls this form the troubadouric song, giving it as the only member of a category of open forms he calls coblas unissonantis (a Provençal term which he assures us is in common use). It is normal, he tells us, for there to be an envoi, shorter than the other stanzas but rhyming with the latter part of them.
Thanks to Bob Newman for the Wonderful Resource Site.
Example Poe
Groceries    (Rimas  Dissolutas)

 

We touch and kiss and hold and hug,
and work to earn our daily bread.
Our foodstuff’s ready in the store –
our meat our milk our wines our cake.
A small bird looking for a bug
about to be a meal instead
we breed to fatten, kill, and more
are we more proper than the snake?
© Lawrencealot – February 7, 2014

Picture credit: google images, rights belong to photographer.

Her is a visual template that just happened to choose
Iambic tetrameter quatrains.