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Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry English Verse English Poets Emulated There are many lesser known stanzaic patterns and verse forms projacked and styled after published poems, then named for the poet. These stanzaic patterns appear to have been invented as teaching tools and published in Pathways for a Poet by Viola Berg 1977. Here are a few named for English poets: The Abercrombie is a stanza pattern using sprung rhythm and an interlocking rhyme scheme. It is patterned after Hymn to Love by British poet, Lascelles Abacrombie (1881-1938). The elements of the Abercrombie are: stanzaic, written in any number of octaves made up of 2 quatrains. metric, written in sprung rhythm with L1,L3,L5,L7 are pentameter, L2 & L6 are tetrameter and L4 & L8 is trimeter. rhymed, interlocking rhyme scheme abac dbdc, efeg hfhg, etc. L4 and L8 are feminine rhyme. The interlocking rhyme is within the octave and does not extend to the next octave. Hymn to Love by Lascelles Abercrombie We are thine, O Love, being in thee and made of thee, As théou, Léove, were the déep thought And we the speech of the thought; yea, spoken are we, Thy fires of thought out-spoken: But burn'd not through us thy imagining Like fiérce méood in a séong céaught, We were as clamour'd words a fool may fling, Loose words, of meaning broken. For what more like the brainless speech of a fool, The lives travelling dark fears, And as a boy throws pebbles in a pool Thrown down abysmal places? Hazardous are the stars, yet is our birth And our journeying time theirs; As words of air, life makes of starry earth sweet soul-delighted faces; As voices are we in the worldly wind; The great wind of the world's fate Is turn'd, as air to a shapen sound, to mind And marvellous desires. But not in the world as voices storm-shatter'd, Not borne down by the wind's weight; The rushing time rings with our splendid word Like darkness fill'd with fires. For Love doth use us for a sound of song, And Love's meaning our life wields, Making our souls like syllables to throng His tunes of exultation, Down the blind speed of a fatal world we fly, As rain blown along earth's fields; Yet are we god-desiring liturgy, Sung joys of adoration; Yea, made of chance and all a labouring strife, We go charged with a strong flame; For as a language Love hath seized on life His burning heart to story. Yea, Love, we are thine, the liturgy of thee, Thy thought's golden and glad name, The mortal conscience of immortal glee, Love's zeal in Love's own glory. The Arnold is a stanzaic pattern that links stanzas with rhyme. It is named for English poet Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) and patterned after his poem The Hymn of Empedocles. Arnold was actually better known for writing the classic Dover Beach. The elements of the Arnold are: stanzaic, written in any even number of cinquains. metered, L1 through L4 are trimeter, L5 is hexameter. rhymed. L1 through L4 are alternating rhyme, L5 rhymes with line 5 of the next stanza. The L5 rhyme changes every 2 stanzas. Rhyme scheme: ababc dedec fgfgh ijijh etc. L1 through L4 are indented 9 spaces. Now that is getting specific. The Hymn of Empedocles by Mathew Arnold IS it so small a thing To have enjoy'd the sun, To have lived light in the spring, To have loved, to have thought, to have done; To have advanced true friends, and beat down baffling foes; That we must feign a bliss Of doubtful future date, And while we dream on this Lose all our present state, And relegate to worlds yet distant our repose? Not much, I know, you prize What pleasures may be had, Who look on life with eyes Estranged, like mine, and sad: And yet the village churl feels the truth more than you; Who 's loth to leave this life Which to him little yields: His hard-task'd sunburnt wife, His often-labour'd fields; The boors with whom he talk'd, the country spots he knew. But thou, because thou hear'st Men scoff at Heaven and Fate; Because the gods thou fear'st Fail to make blest thy state, Tremblest, and wilt not dare to trust the joys there are. I say, Fear not! life still Leaves human effort scope. But, since life teems with ill, Nurse no extravagant hope. Because thou must not dream, thou need'st not then despair. The Binyon is an envelope verse form with refrain patterned after the poem O World, Be Nobler by 19th century English poet Laurence Binyon. Binyon is known as a World War I poet. O World, is not his best known work, he is better known for For the Fallen which is often used in military memorial services. The elements of the Binyon are: a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines. metered, iambic tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme AbccbaA. composed with a refrain, the 1st line is repeated as the last line. O World, Be Nobler Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) O WORLD, be nobler, for her sake! If she but knew thee what thou art, What wrongs are borne, what deeds are done In thee, beneath thy daily sun, Know'st thou not that her tender heart For pain and very shame would break? O World, be nobler, for her sake! The Blunden is named for the English World War I poet, Edmund Blunden (1896- 1933 or 1974??), a stanzaic form with variable meter patterned after his poem The Survival. Blunden unlike most "War Poets", wrote about the loss of beauty in the war torn landscape of France. The easy rhythm of the form brings a kind of melancholy to the poem. This poem could almost be considered a débat. Two voices are heard, the mind's need to cope versus the soul's devastation at the mindless destruction. The elements of the Blunden are: metered, L1, L3, L4, L5 iambic tetrameter and L2, L6 iambic trimeter. stanzaic, any number of sexains or sixains (6 line stanzas). rhymed, rhyme scheme abccab deffde etc. The Survival by Edmund Blunden To-day's house makes to-morrow's road; I knew these heaps of stone When they were walls of grace and might, The country's honour, art's delight That over fountain'd silence show'd Fame's final bastion. Inheritance has found fresh work, Disunion union breeds; Beauty the strong, its difference lost, Has matter fit for flood and frost. Here's the true blood that will not shirk Life's new-commanding needs. With curious costly zeal, O man, Raise orrery and ode; How shines your tower, the only one Of that especial site and stone! And even the dream's confusion can Sustain to-morrow's road. The Bridges is a stanzaic form with a formal tone created by the long and short lines and exact rhyme scheme. It is patterned after Nightingales by English poet Robert Bridges(1844-1930). The elements of the Bridges are: stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. metered, L1,L2, L4 and L5 are loosely iambic pentameter and L3 and L6 are dimeter. rhymed, rhyme scheme aabccb ddeffe etc. Beyond London 1888 by Judi Van Gorder Nightingales by Robert Bridges BEAUTIFUL must be the mountains whence ye come, And bright in the fruitful valleys the streams, wherefrom Ye learn your song: Where are those starry woods? O might I wander there, Among the flowers, which in that heavenly air Bloom the year long! Nay, barren are those mountains and spent the streams: Our song is the voice of desire, that haunts our dreams, A throe of the heart, Whose pining visions dim, forbidden hopes profound, No dying cadence nor long sigh can sound For all our art. Alone, aloud in the raptured ear of men We pour our dark nocturnal secret; and then, As night is withdrawn From these sweet-springing meads and bursting boughs of May, Dream, while the innumerable choir of day Welcome the dawn. The de la Mare is a verse form patterned after Fare Well by English poet, Walter De La Mare (1873-1956).De La Mare is better known for his poem The Listeners. The elements of the de la Mare are: stanzaic, written in any number of octaves made up of 2 quatrains. metered, quatrains of 3 tetrameter lines followed by a dimeter line. rhymed, xaxaxbxb xcxcxdxd etc. x being unrhymed. composed with alternating feminine and masculine end words, only the masculine end words are rhymed. Fare Well by Walter de la Mare When I lie where shades of darkness Shall no more assail mine eyes, Nor the rain make lamentation When the wind sighs; How will fare the world whose wonder Was the very proof of me? Memory fades, must the remembered Perishing be? Oh, when this my dust surrenders Hand, foot, lip, to dust again, May these loved and loving faces Please other men! May the rusting harvest hedgerow Still the Traveller's Joy entwine, And as happy children gather Posies once mine. Look thy last on all things lovely, Every hour. Let no night Seal thy sense in deathly slumber Till to delight Thou have paid thy utmost blessing; Since that all things thou wouldst praise Beauty took from those who loved them In other days The de Tabley is a verse form patterned after Chorus from Medea by John Leicester Warren, Lord de Tabley (1835-1895). De Tabley's poetry reflected his study of the classics and his passion for detail. The elements of the de Tabley are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metric, alternating iambic pentameter and iambic trimeter lines. L1 of each stanza begins with a trochee Su. rhymed, rhymed scheme abab cdcd etc. Thread of Dreams by Judi Van Gorder Chorus from Medea by John Leicester Warren, Lord de Tabley SWEET are the ways of death to weary feet, Calm are the shades of men. The phantom fears no tyrant in his seat, The slave is master then. Love is abolish'd; well, that this is so; We knew him best as Pain. The gods are all cast out, and let them go! Who ever found them gain? Ready to hurt and slow to succour these; So, while thou breathest, pray. But in the sepulchre all flesh has peace; Their hand is put away. The Dixon measures the differences between masculine and feminine rhyme. Patterned after the poem The Feathers of the Willow by English poet, Richard Watson Dixon (1833-1900).The elements of the Dixon are: stanzaic, written in any number of sixains made up of 2 tercets. metered, trimeter rhymed, rhyme scheme aab ccb. The b rhymes are strong, masculine, the rhyme on a stressed end syllable. The a and c rhymes are feminine or falling rhymes, the rhyme is in the stressed syllable of an end word ending in an unstressed syllable. The Feathers of the Willow by Richard Watson Dixon THE feathers of the willow Are half of them grown yellow Above the swelling stream; And ragged are the bushes, And rusty now the rushes, And wild the clouded gleam. The thistle now is older, His stalk begins to molder, His head is white as snow; The branches all are barer, The linnet's song is rarer, The robin pipeth now. The Dobson is named for Henry Austin Dobson (1840-1921), 19th century English poet, patterned from his The Garden Song. Dobson was respected in his time for his use of French forms especially his mastery of the Triolet.The elements of the Dobson are: stanzaic, written in any number of sixains made up of 3 rhymed couplets. metered, most often written in tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme aabbcc ddeeff et. A Garden Song by Henry Austin Dobson HERE in this sequester'd close Bloom the hyacinth and rose, Here beside the modest stock Flaunts the flaring hollyhock; Here, without a pang, one sees Ranks, conditions, and degrees. All the seasons run their race In this quiet resting place, Peach and apricot and fig Here will ripen and grow big; Here is store and overplus, More had not Alcinoüs! Here, in alleys cool and green, Far ahead the thrush is seen; Here along the southern wall Keeps the bee his festival; All is quiet else--afar Sounds of toil and turmoil are. Here be shadows large and long; Here be spaces meet for song; Grant, O garden-god, that I, Now that none profane is nigh, Now that mood and moment please, Find the fair Pierides! Wake Up Call by Judi Van Gorder The yellow daffodils appear, a season preview, Spring is near. Though winter's silence still is heard in time, new life is undeterred. Awake and open up your eyes the garden offers up the prize. The Donne is named for the English Poet, John Donne (1573-1631) patterned after his A Hymn to God the Father. John Donne was known as a metaphysical poet and his poetic style directly influenced the poetry of the 16th century.The elements of the Donne are: stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. metered, L1 through L4 are pentameter, L5 tetrameter and L6 is dimeter. rhymed, with an alternating rhyme scheme ababab. The rhyme scheme maintains the same 2 rhymes throughout the poem ababab ababab etc. Hymn to God the Father by John Donne WILT Thou forgive that sin where I begun, Which was my sin, though it were done before? Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run, And do run still, though still I do deplore When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done, For I have more. Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won Others to sin, and made my sin their door? Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun A year or two, but wallow'd in, a score? When thou hast done, thou hast not done, For I have more. I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun My last thread, I shall perish on the shore; But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore; And, having done that, thou hast done; I fear no more. Done Donne by Rex Allen Brewer How can I find a way to write like Donne, When comes the fun, who cracks the door? My words are poor, like weeds without the sun. I can't find rhyme or pun, I am a bore. I walk the floor, what have I won? Foul done, no score. The Dowson is patterned after the poem They Are Not Long, the Weeping and the Laughing by English poet Ernest Dowson (1867-1900). It is this poem that coined the phrase, "the days of wine and roses." As a side note,Dowson died at the age of 32 a direct result of his alcoholism. The elements of the Dowson are: stanzaic, 2 quatrains. metered, L1-L3 pentameter, L2 trimeter, L4 dimeter. rhymed abab cdcd, L1-L3 of each stanza ends in feminine rhyme and L2-L4 is masculine rhyme. They Are Not Long, The Weeping and the Laughing by Ernest Dowson They are not long, the weeping and the laughter, Love and desire and hate: I think they have no portion in us after We pass the gate. They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for awhile, then closes Within a dream. The Fletcher is a verse form that employs long and short lines, from the poem Away, Delights by John Fletcher (1579-1625) The elements of the Fletcher are: 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.' The Gilbert is a verse form in which a theme reoccurs in different settings from stanza to stanza. It is named for William Schwenk Gilbert (1836-1911) of Gilbert and Sullivan fame, (operettas for which Gilbert provided the lyrics). The form is patterned after his poem The House of Peers. The elements of the Gilbert are: written in 3 septets. metered, L1,L3,L4,L6,L7 are tetrameter , L2 and L5 are trimeter. rhymed, rhyme scheme xabbacc xdeedff etc. x being unrhymed. The House of Peers by WS Gilbert When Britain really ruled the waves - (In good Queen Bess's time) The House of Peers made no pretense To intellectual eminence, Or scholarship sublime; Yet Britain won her proudest bays In good Queen Bess's glorious days! When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte, As every child can tell, The House of Peers, throughout the war, Did nothing in particular, And did it very well; Yet Britain set the world ablaze In good King George's glorious days! And while the House of Peers withholds Its legislative hand, And noble statesmen do not itch To interfere with matters which They do not understand, As bright will shine Great Britain's rays, As in King George's glorious days! The Herrick makes use of alternating feminine and masculine end words. It is a verse form named for Robert Herrick (1591-1674) and patterned after his poem To the Virgins to Make Much Time. The elements of the Herrick are: stanzaic, a poem of 4 quatrains. metered, alternating tetrameter and trimeter lines. Odd number lines are tetrameter ,even numbered lines are trimeter. rhyme, rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef ghgh. Odd numbered lines are masculine rhyme, even numbered lines have feminine rhyme. To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick Gather ye rose-buds while ye may: Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may go marry: For having lost but once your prime You may for ever tarry. The Kipling is a stanzaic form that uses anapestic and iambic meter with internal rhyme. Named for Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and patterned after his poem L' Envoi. The elements of the Kipling are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metered, the odd numbered lines are hexameter, the even numbered lines are trimeter. The first metric foot of each line is an anapest followed by either 5 iambs or 2 iambs depending on the length of the line. rhymed, rhyme scheme aa-b-cc-b dd-e-ff-e etc. The odd numbered lines employ internal rhyme. L'Envoi by Rudyard Kipling There's a whisper down the field where the year has shot her yield, And the ricks stand gray to the sun, Singing: -- "Over then, come over, for the bee has quit the clover, And your English summer's done." You have heard the beat of the off-shore wind, And the thresh of the deep-sea rain; You have heard the song -- how long! how long? Pull out on the trail again! Ha' done with the Tents of Shem, dear lass, We've seen the seasons through, And it's time to turn on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, Pull out, pull out, on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. It's North you may run to the rime-ringed sun, Or South to the blind Horn's hate; Or East all the way into Mississippi Bay, Or West to the Golden Gate; Where the blindest bluffs hold good, dear lass, And the wildest tales are true, And the men bulk big on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, And life runs large on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. The days are sick and cold, and the skies are gray and old, And the twice-breathed airs blow damp; And I'd sell my tired soul for the bucking beam-sea roll Of a black Bilbao tramp; With her load-line over her hatch, dear lass, And a drunken Dago crew, And her nose held down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail From Cadiz Bar on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. There be triple ways to take, of the eagle or the snake, Or the way of a man with a maid; But the fairest way to me is a ship's upon the sea In the heel of the North-East Trade. Can you hear the crash on her bows, dear lass, And the drum of the racing screw, As she ships it green on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, As she lifts and 'scends on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new? See the shaking funnels roar, with the Peter at the fore, And the fenders grind and heave ,And the derricks clack and grate, as the tackle hooks the crate, And the fall-rope whines through the sheave; It's "Gang-plank up and in," dear lass, It's "Hawsers warp her through!" And it's "All clear aft" on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, We're backing down on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. O the mutter overside, when the port-fog holds us tied, And the sirens hoot their dread! When foot by foot we creep o'er the hueless viewless deep To the sob of the questing lead! It's down by the Lower Hope, dear lass, With the Gunfleet Sands in view, Till the Mouse swings green on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, And the Gull Light lifts on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. O the blazing tropic night, when the wake's a welt of light That holds the hot sky tame, And the steady fore-foot snores through the planet-powdered floors Where the scared whale flukes in flame! Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass, And her ropes are taut with the dew, For we're booming down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, We're sagging south on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. Then home, get her home, where the drunken rollers comb, And the shouting seas drive by, And the engines stamp and ring, and the wet bows reel and swing, And the Southern Cross rides high! Yes, the old lost stars wheel back, dear lass, That blaze in the velvet blue. They're all old friends on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, They're God's own guides on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. Fly forward, O my heart, from the Foreland to the Start -- We're steaming all-too slow, And it's twenty thousand mile to our little lazy isle Where the trumpet-orchids blow! You have heard the call of the off-shore wind, And the voice of the deep-sea rain; You have heard the song -- how long! how long? Pull out on the trail again! The Lord knows what we may find, dear lass, And The Deuce knows what we may do -- But we're back once more on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail, We're down, hull down on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new. The Noyes is a stanzaic form using uneven short emphatic lines. It is named for English poet Alfred Noyes (1880-1958) patterned after Part II of his poem Art. Noyes is better known for The Highwayman. The elements of the Noyes are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metered, L1,L2,L4 are trimeter, L3 is monometer. abab cdcd efeg ghgh. Swiss Miss by Judi Van Gorder Art by Alfred Noyes I. Yes! Beauty still rebels! Our dreams like clouds disperse: She dwells In agate, marble, verse. No false constraint be thine! But, for right walking, choose The fine, The strict cothurnus, Muse. Vainly ye seek to escape The toil! The yielding phrase Ye shape Is clay, not chrysoprase. And all in vain ye scorn That seeming ease which ne'er Was born Of aught but love and care. Take up the sculptor's tool! Recall the gods that die To rule In Parian o'er the sky. II. Poet, let passion sleep Till with the cosmic rhyme You keep Eternal tone and time ,By rule of hour and flower, By strength of stern restraint And power To fail and not to faint. The task is hard to learn While all the songs of Spring Return Along the blood and sing. Yet hear from her deep skies, How Art, for all your pain, Still cries Ye must be born again! Reject the wreath of rose, Take up the crown of thorn That shows To-night a child is born. The far immortal face In chosen onyx fine Enchase, Delicate line by line. Strive with Carrara, fight With Parian, till there steal To light Apollo's pure profile. Set the great lucid form Free from its marble tomb To storm The heights of death and doom. Take up the sculptor's tool! Recall the gods that die To rule In Parian o'er the sky. The O'Shaughnessy is a verse form patterned after a single stanza in "Ode" by Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy (1844-1881). The elements of the O'Shaughnessy are: stanzaic, written in any number of octaves. metered, sprung rhythm, alternating trimeter and tetrameter lines. The odd number lines are trimeter and the even number lines are tetrameter. rhymed, rhyme scheme abababab. The odd numbered lines are feminine rhyme and the even numbered lines are masculine rhyme. Ode by Arthur O'Shaughnessy WE are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. With wonderful deathless ditties We build up the world's great cities, And out of a fabulous story We fashion an empire's glory: One man with a dream, at pleasure, Shall go forth and conquer a crown; And three with a new song's measure Can trample an empire down. We, in the ages lying In the buried past of the earth, Built Nineveh with our sighing, And Babel itself with our mirth; And o'erthrew them with prophesying To the old of the new world's worth; For each age is a dream that is dying, Or one that is coming to birth. The Phillimore is a stanzaic form that moves from dimeter to pentameter and back again. It is named for John Swinnerton Phillimore (1873-1926) and patterned after his poem In a Meadow. The elements of the Phillimore are: stanzaic written in any number of octaves. (original poem has 6 octaves) metered, L1, L4,L6 and L8 are dimeter, L2,L3,L5, and L7 are pentameter. rhymed, aabbccdd. In a Meadow by John Swinnerton Phillimore THIS is the place Where far from the unholy populace The daughter of Philosophy and Sleep Her court doth keep, Sweet Contemplation. To her service bound Hover around The little amiable summer airs, Her courtiers. The deep black soil Makes mute her palace-floors with thick trefoil; The grasses sagely nodding overhead Curtain her bed; And lest the feet of strangers overpass Her walls of grass, Gravely a little river goes his rounds To beat the bounds. No bustling flood To make a tumult in her neighborhood, But such a stream as knows to go and come Discreetly dumb. Therein are chambers tapestried with weeds And screen'd with reeds; For roof the waterlily-leaves serene Spread tiles of green. The sun's large eye Falls soberly upon me where I lie; For delicate webs of immaterial haze Refine his rays. The air is full of music none knows what, Or half-forgot; The living echo of dead voices fills The unseen hills. I hear the song Of cuckoo answering cuckoo all day long: And know not if it be my inward sprite For my delight, Making remembered poetry As sound in the ear Like a salt savor poignant in the breeze. Dreams without sleep And sleep too clear for dreaming and too deep, And Quiet very large and manifold, About me rolled. Satiety, that momentary flower Stretched to an hour. These are her gifts that all mankind can use: And all refuse. The Russell is a verse form composed of three alternating rhyme quatrains written with the first 3 lines iambic pentameter and the fourth line iambic trimeter. It is patterned after The Great Breath by George William Russell (1867-1935), The elements of the Russell are: stanzaic, written in 3 quatrains. metered, L1-L3 are pentameter and L4 is trimeter. rhymed, rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef, The Great Breath by George William Russell ITS edges foam'd with amethyst and rose, Withers once more the old blue flower of day: There where the ether like a diamond glows, Its petals fade away. A shadowy tumult stirs the dusky air; Sparkle the delicate dews, the distant snows; The great deep thrills--for through it everywhere The breath of Beauty blows. I saw how all the trembling ages past, Molded to her by deep and deeper breath, Near'd to the hour when Beauty breathes her last And knows herself in death. The Stephens is a stanzaic form that uses alternating rising and falling end syllables and is patterned after The Watcher and named for the English poet verseJames Stephens (1882-1950). The elements of the Stephens are: stanzaic, written in any number of sixains. (original poem has 5 sixains) metered, dimeter. rhymed, ababxb cdcdxd etc. x being unrhymed. composed with feminine endings in the odd numbered lines L1, L3 and L5 and masculine rhyme in the even numbered lines L2, L4, L6. The Watcher by James Stephens A rose for a young head, A ring for a bride, Joy for the homestead Clean and wide Who's that waiting In the rain outside? A heart for an old friend, A hand for the new: Love can to earth lend Heaven's hue Who's that standing In the silver dew? A smile for the parting, A tear as they go, God's sweethearting Ends just so Who's that watching Where the black winds blow ? He who is waiting In the rain outside, He who is standing Where the dew drops wide, He who is watching In the wind must ride (Tho' the pale hands cling) With the rose And the ring And the bride, Must ride With the red of the rose, And the gold cf the ring, And the lips and the hair of the bride. The Stevenson is an invented verse form patterned after the poem, Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish poet 1850-1894. The elements of the Stevenson are: an octastich (8 line poem) made up of 2 quatrains. metric, L1-L3 & L5-L7 are iambic tetrameter, L4 & L8 are iambic trimeter. rhymed, rhyme scheme aaabcccb. Requiem by Robert Lewis Stevenson 1879 Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This is the verse you grave for me: 'Here he lies where he longed to be; Here is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill.' The Swinburne is a stanzaic form patterned after Before the Mirror by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909). The elements of the Swinburne are: stanzaic, written in any number of septets. metric, L1,L3,L5, & L6 are trimeter, L2 & L4 are dimeter, and L7 is pentameter. rhymed ababccb dedeffe etc, L1 & L3 have feminine or falling rhyme. Before the Mirror, Part I by Algernon Charles Swinburne I. White rose in red rose-garden Is not so white; Snowdrops that plead for pardon And pine for fright Because the hard East blows Over their maiden rows Grow not as this face grows from pale to bright. Behind the veil, forbidden Shut up from sight, Love, is there sorrow hidden, Is there delight? Is joy thy dower or grief, White rose of weary leaf, Late rose whose life is brief, whose loves are light? Soft snows that hard winds harden Till each flake bite Fill all the flowerless garden Whose flowers took flight Long since when summer ceased, And men rose up from feast, And warm west wind grew east, and warm day night. The Tennyson is a stanzaic form patterned after Ask Me No More by English poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson (1802-1892). The elements of the Tennyson are: 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. From the Heart by Judi Van Gorder 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. The Thorley is a stanzaic form patterned after the poem Chant for Reapers, by English poet, Wilfred Thorley 1878. The elements of the Thorley are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains. metred, accentual with alternating lines of L1 & L3 with 5 heavy stesses and L2 & L4 with 3 heavy stresses. The trimeter lines have feminine endings. unrhymed. Chant for Reapers by Wilfred Thorley WHY do you hide, O dryads! when we seek Your healing hands in solace? Who shall soften like you the places rough? Who shall hasten the harvest? Why do you fly, O dryads! when we pray For laden boughs and blossom? Who shall quicken like you the sapling trees? Who shall ripen the orchards? Bare in the wind the branches wave and break, The hazel nuts are hollow. Who shall garner the wheat if you be gone? Who shall sharpen his sickle? Wine have we spilt, O dryads! on our knees Have made you our oblation. Who shall save us from dearth if you be fled? Who shall comfort and kindle? Sadly we delve the furrows, string the vine Whose flimsy burden topples. Downward tumble the woods if you be dumb, Stript of honey and garland. Why do you hide, O dryads! when we call, With pleading hands up-lifted? Smile and bless us again that all be well; Smile again on your children. The Trench is an invented stanzaic form patterned after 20th century, Irish poet, Herbert Trench's A Charge, Ode From Italy in a Time of War. Trench was known for his love poems. The elements of the Trench are: stanzaic, may be written in any number of cinquains. metered, L1, L2, L4 pentameter, L3 dimeter, L5 trimeter. rhymed axbab, cxdcd etc… x being unrhymed. A Charge, Ode From Italy in a Time of War by Herbert Trench 1915 If thou hast squander'd years to grave a gem Commission'd by thy absent Lord, and while 'Tis incomplete, Others would bribe thy needy skill to them Dismiss them to the street! Should'st thou at last discover Beauty's grove, At last be panting on the fragrant verge, But in the track, Drunk with divine possession, thou meet Love Turn at her bidding back. When round thy ship in tempest Hell appears, And every spectre mutters up more dire To snatch control And loose to madness thy deep-kennell'd Fears Then to the helm, O Soul! Last; if upon the cold green-mantling sea Thou cling, alone with Truth, to the last spar, Both castaway, And one must perish let it not be he Whom thou art sworn to obey! The Yeats is a verse form patterned after Where My Books Go by Irish poet, William Butler Yeats. (1865-1939) The elements of the Yeats are: an octastich, a poem in 8 lines. metric, accentual 3 heavy stresses per line. rhymed, rhyme scheme xaxaxaxa x being unrhymed. The odd numbered lines have feminine or falling end syllables. Where My Books Go by William Butler Yeats All the words that I utter, And all the words that I write, Must spread out their wings untiring, And never rest in their flight, Till they come where your sad, sad heart is, And sing to you in the night, Beyond where the waters are moving, Storm-darken'd or starry bright.

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry Latin Verse Carpe Diem is a secular genre of verse named for the famous phrase from Horace's Ode II, "carpe diem", Latin - seize the day. The genre focuses thematically on the moment. It can be found in the voice of a lover coaxing his lady love to "grasp the moment" or a call to arms. The frame is at the discretion of the poet although I did find a framed invented form at Poetry Styles which is described below. Probably one of the best known "carpe diem" poems is Robert Herrick's Gather ye rose-buds framed in Hymnal Measure. Gather ye rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying. The glorious Lamp of Heaven, the Sun, The higher he's a-getting The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer: But being spent, the worse, and worst Times, still succeed the former. Then, be not coy, but use your time; And while ye may, go marry: For having lost but once your prime, You may for ever tarry. Monday by Judi Van Gorder -------"Seize the day!" -----------Horace 20 BC Break the silence of chatter by listening. The words you speak should be your finest poem. Touch the ones you love as if yesterday was a dream and tomorrow is just a word. The moment is not then or when but now. Carpe Diem, a more recent invented verse form and composed around the theme of “seize the day” was found at Poetry Styles, introduced by Pat Simpson. The elements of the invented form Carpe Diem are: a decastich, a poem in 10 lines. syllabic, 8-2-4-2-10-2-7-6-8-10 syllables per line. unrhymed. composed around the theme, "seize the day".

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry Poetry of the 17th Century Baroque Poetry is known as an elaborate style embellished with complicated metaphors. The word baroque is Portuguese for imperfectly formed pearl. English poet Richard Crashaw, 17th century. Upon the Book and Picture of Sacrificial Saint Teresa by Richard Crashaw O THOU undaunted daughter of desires! By all thy dower of lights and fires; By all the eagle in thee, all the dove; By all thy lives and deaths of love; By thy large draughts of intellectual day, And by thy thirsts of love more large than they; By all thy brim-fill'd bowls of fierce desire, By thy last morning's draught of liquid fire; By the full kingdom of that final kiss That seized thy parting soul, and seal'd thee His; By all the Heav'n thou hast in Him (Fair sister of the seraphim!); By all of Him we have in thee; Leave nothing of myself in me. Let me so read thy life, that I Unto all life of mine may die! The Cavalier Poets were 17th century English poets associated with the royal court of the King Charles I. Some of the elements of their works are refined language, light hearted tones, direct language and clear images. The poems were royalist, secular and sometimes nostalgic. Some Cavalier poets were Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace and Sir John Suckling. To Lucasta on Going to Sea by Richard Lovelace IF to be absent were to be Away from thee; Or that when I am gone You or I were alone; Then, my Lucasta, might I crave Pity from blustering wind or swallowing wave. But I'll not sigh one blast or gale To swell my sail, Or pay a tear to 'suage The foaming blue god's rage; For whether he will let me pass Or no, I'm still as happy as I was. Though seas and land betwixt us both, Our faith and troth, Like separated souls, All time and space controls: Above the highest sphere we meet Unseen, unknown; and greet as Angels greet. So then we do anticipate Our after-fate, And are alive i' the skies, If thus our lips and eyes Can speak like spirits unconfined In Heaven, their earthy bodies left behind. Dadaism Jacobite Poets refers to poets during the reign of James I (1603-1625). John Donne, Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson and even Shakespeare although he is better known as an Elizabethan Poet. Sonnet III Taking My Pen by Michael Drayton Taking my pen, with words to cast my woe, Duly to count the sum of all my cares, I find my griefs innumerable grow, The reckonings rise to millions of despairs; And thus dividing of my fatal hours, The payments of my love I read and cross, Subtracting, set my sweets unto my sours, My joy's arrearage leads me to my loss; And thus mine eye's a debtor to thine eye, Which by extortion gaineth all their looks; My heart hath paid such grievous usury That all their wealth lies in thy beauty's books, And all is thine which hath been due to me, And I a bankrupt, quite undone by thee. Metaphysical Poetry is a movement from 17th century England, emotional poetry using simple or common language and unconventional, sometimes shocking imagery. Recognized as intellectual, psychological, often unconventional and bold. John Donn> and George Herbert are probably the best known of the Metaphysical poets. Sonnet, Death Be Not Proud by John Donne Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. Neoclassic Poetry is from 17th-18th century England overlapping with Augustan poetry, that tended to be satirical and didactic. The movement originated by Ben Jonson and included Alexander Pope, John Dryden, Robert Herrick and Thomas Gray deliberately imitated the classic poetry of Greek and Roman poets and was crafted with a formal correctness with elegant restraint. It tended to view poetry as a honed craft rather than an expression of the soul. The world was described in terms of a strictly ordered heirarchy which neoclassics called The Great Chain of Being. Essay on Critisism by Alexander Pope But most by Numbers judge a Poet's song; And smooth or rough, with them, is right or wrong: In the bright Muse tho' thousand charms conspire, Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire; Who haunt Parnassus but to please their ear, Not mend their minds; as some to church repair, Not for the doctrine but the music there. These equal syllables alone require, Tho' oft the ear the open vowels tire; While expletives their feeble aid do join; And ten low words oft creep in one dull line: While they ring round the same unvaried chimes, With sure returns of still expected rhymes; Where'er you find "the cooling western breeze," In the next line it "whispers through the trees" If crystal streams "with pleasing murmurs creep" The reader's threaten'd (not in vain) with "sleep": Then, at the last and only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. Tribe of Ben were 17th century poets who admired and emulated Ben Jonson. Some of the poets were Robert Herrick, Carew, Lovelace and Suckling. The Hag by Robert Herrick The Hag is astride, This night for to ride; The Devill and shee together: Through thick, and through thin, Now out, and then in, Though ne'r so foul be the weather. A Thorn or a Burr She takes for a Spurre: With a lash of a Bramble she rides now, Through Brakes and through Bryars, O're Ditches, and Mires, She follows the Spirit that guides now. No Beast, for his food, Dares now range the wood; But husht in his laire he lies lurking: While mischiefs, by these, On Land and on Seas, At noone of Night are working, The storm will arise, And trouble the skies; This night, and more for the wonder, The ghost from the Tomb Affrighted shall come, Called out by the clap of the Thunder.

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry English Verse The Triplet has its roots in 16th century England. The classic triplet is a three line, mono-rhymed verse with meter at the discretion of the poet. It can be written as a stand alone poem or can be stanzaic, written using any number of triplets. The word "triplet" is commonly interchanged with tercet. Since respected sources give definitions of both the triplet and the tercet that are exactly the same, similar and sometimes contradictory, I felt there should be a clearer separation of the two. One distinction I found unanimous was that sources invariably used the term triplet when referring to a monorhymed three line stanza. Therefore, in order to be consistent and clear throughout this research, I use the term "tercet" whenever referring to any three line poem or stanza except when that poem or stanza is monorhymed, then I use "triplet". It seems to me the best way to distinguish between the terms, although I could probably just say tercet is Italian and triplet is English for the same definition but then why in English would we use the word tercet at all? John Dreyden, English poet and critic said of the use of the triplet, "they bound the sense", I've read he used the stanza, writing a rhymed, iambic pentameter couplet followed by a rhyming Alexandrine line but have so far been unsuccessful in finding an example. The contemporary Blues Stanza would fall under the umbrella of the classic triplet. A elements of the classic triplet are: a 3 line poem or stanza. monorhymed, aaa bbb. metered at the discretion of the poet. Upon Julia's Clothes by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) When as in silks my Julia goes, Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows The liquefaction of her clothes. Next, when I cast mine eyes, and see That brave vibration, each way free, O, how that glittering taketh me! Blues Stanza Culminating Verse is a subgenre of the classic triplet. It is in reality simply a classic triplet using a type of word play, increasing the initial consonants of the rhyme word from line to line. eg. air / care / stare. Smog by Judi Van Gorder The thick LA air gives me a care when it stings my stare. Diminishing Verse is also a subgenre of the classic triplet. It is a classic triplet using a type of word play that reduces the initial consonants of the rhyme word from line to line. eg. that / bat / at. Found by Judi Van Gorder I'm not all that, can't swing a bat, but I know where I'm at. Stornello