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Explore the Craft of Writing Light Verse Little Willies or Ruthless Rhymes were made popular at the turn of the 19th century because of a publication by Col. D Streamer"s (Harry Graham English poet , 1874-1936) Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes. Graham took the pen name from his regiment, the Coldstream Guards. He wrote short satirical poems, one about a boy named Billy. Billy became Willie and a new form was born. The poems were recited and copied all over the English speaking world. The elements of Little Willies are: satirical accentual, with 4 stresses per line. a tetrastich. A complete poem in 4 lines. composed with a surprise last line and a touch of sadistic humor. rhymed. Rhyme scheme aabb or abab. light verse. often composed using Little Willie and his family as the brunt of the joke. Willie with a thirst for gore nailed his sister to the door Mother said with humor quaint "Careful, Willie, don't scratch the paint." -------------------- --anonymous The Colonel brought Willie fame, his contribution to the arts, but whenever I hear the name my thoughts turn to body parts. ------------ -- Judi Van Gorder More Little Willies Dead Lounge

Explore the Craft of Writing Light Verse Bagarthach verse was hatched in the science fiction novel The Reefs of Earth by American writer R. A Lafferty. In the novel, alien immigrants to earth occasionally speak in verse. They call it Bagarthach Verse and it has powers beyond the words. (Well, doesn't all good poetry?) In the book the mean spirited wishes of the verse often come true. The verse is similar to Ruthless Rhyme. In this world, when written by earthlings, the verse form would be categorized as Light Verse. The elements of the Bagarthach are: funny or clever but mean spirited. short, one quatrain. syllabic 8-9-8-9 syllables per line, sometimes all lines are 8 syllables. rhymed abab. Here is the first Bagarthach verse in Lafferty's book, spoken during an argument between two aliens. "I'm turning livid in this bog, This wooly world that spooks and spites you. You'll find that picture's got a dog! I hope the blinking bugger bites you!" Consequently the alien to whom the verse is directed is found dead from a dog bite..... So be careful what you write.. (Yes, I actually bought and read the book for this research.)