• The Tennyson is a stanzaic form patterned after Ask Me No More by English poet,Alfred Lord Tennyson (1802-1892).
The Tennyson is:
○ stanzaic, written in any number of cinquains.
○ metric, iambic, L1-L4 are pentameter and L5 is dimeter.
○ rhymed, rhyme scheme abbaC deedC fggfC etc.
○ written in with L5 as a refrain repeated from stanza to stanza.
Ask Me No More by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Ask me no more: the moon may draw the sea;
The cloud may stoop from heaven and take the shape,
With fold to fold, of mountain or of cape;
But O too fond, when have I answer’d thee?
————–Ask me no more.
Ask me no more: what answer should I give?
I love not hollow cheek or faded eye:
Yet, O my friend, I will not have thee die!
Ask me no more, lest I should bid thee live;
————–Ask me no more.
Ask me no more: thy fate and mine are seal’d:
I strove against the stream and all in vain:
Let the great river take me to the main:
No more, dear love, for at a touch I yield;
————–Ask me no more.
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=668
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful PMO resource.
My Example Poem
Wastrel ( The Tennyson)
I wasted time throughout my early years.
and emphasized my chase for corporate gold.
I knew of course, that everyone grows old
unless an early death brings loved-ones tears.
I wasted time.
I wasted time while children’s magic bloomed,
and took for granted miracles in play.
I let too many moments slip away.
I failed to nurture love that was presumed.
I wasted time.
I wasted time just letting days go by.
But now I savor simple daily things-
a child that laughs, a parakeet that sings-
and cannot help but often wonder why
I wasted time.
© Lawrencealot – July 29, 2014
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