• Serena has 2 definitions:
○ Serena(Occitan-serene song) is a song of the troubadours that appeared late in Provencal lyrical poetry and is the counterpart of the Alba. It builds around the theme of waiting for nightfall. Specifically a lover waiting to consummate his love, such circumstance would not communicate “serene” to me. The frame is at the discretion of the poet.
○ The Serena is also a modern day invented form created by Edith Thompson and found in Pathway for the Poet by Viola Berg. It uses head and tail rhyme.
The invented Serena from Pathways … is:
§ a poem in 11 lines.
§ syllabic, L1,L9,L11 are 4 syllables each. L2 & L10 are 3 syllables each and L3 thru L8 are 7 sylables each.
§ head and tail rhymed, the head rhyme is AAbbccddAAx and the tail rhyme is ABcxccddABb, x being unrhymed.
§ composed with a refrain, L1 & L2 are repeated as L9 & L10.
Pasted from Poetry Magnum Opus, with thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.
My effort here will deal with the specific invented form.
My Example
Form: Serena
What’s the Doubt About
Rhyme is sublime
I’m assured,
heard as accent to a beat.
Word is that excess is not
neat; it ought be a discrete
treat or aim may meet defeat.
Bawdy rhyme one might applaud,
flawed or not so help me God.
Rhyme is sublime
I’m assured.
The truth’s obscured.
© Lawrencealot – January 22, 2015
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