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 s