The Fletcher

• The Fletcher is a verse form that employs long and short lines, from the poem Away, Delights by John Fletcher (1579-1625)

The Fletcher is:
○ 2 octaves made up of 2 quatrains each.
○ metered, L1, L3, L5, L8 are pentameter and L2, L4, L6, L7 are dimeter*.
○ rhymed ababcdcd efefghgh, L1 and L3 of each octave are feminine rhyme.

Away, Delights! By John Fletcher
AWAY, delights! go seek some other dwelling,
For I must die.
Farewell, false love! thy tongue is ever telling
Lie after lie.
For ever let me rest now from thy smarts;
Alas, for pity go
And fire their hearts
That have been hard to thee! Mine was not so.
Never again deluding love shall know me,
For I will die;
And all those griefs that think to overgrow me
Shall be as I:
For ever will I sleep, while poor maids cry–
‘Alas, for pity stay,
And let us die
With thee! Men cannot mock us in the clay.’
Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=668
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the fine PMO resource.
CORRECTION: Line 6 is trimeter.

My Example poem

Drinking Time (The Fletcher)

The bar’s a proper place to start your drinking –
but not too soon
for only drunks and chippies, I am thinking
begin at noon.
If you’re despondent, casting only gloom
we’d rather you just stay
within your room.
our bar’s a place to hunt and flirt and play.

The advantage of starting drinking later –
for normal guys
the early girls will find you looking greater,
surprize, surprize!
And you can differentiate before
you find yourself a ten
that’s but a four.
But then, a four’s a ten compared to men.

© Lawencealot – July 26, 2014