Deachnadh Cummaisc and Deachnadh mor

[Tinker]

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry
Irish Verse Forms

Deachnadh Cummaisc and Deachnadh Mor is an ancient form defined by the use of consonant rhyme, . (easier said than done.)

• The elements of the Deachnadh Cummaisc are:
  1. written in any number of quatrains.
  2. syllabic 8-4-8-4 or 8-4-4-8
  3. written with consonance rhyme (rhyming the first or last consonant of the line. Vowel sounds need not be rhymed.) abab cdcd etc
  4. usually written with 2 syllable end words.
  5. when L3 is written with a 2 syllable end word, aicill rhyme is employed.  Aicill rhyme is rhyming the penultimate word of L4 with the end rhyme of L3.
  6. written with cywddydd (harmony of sound) and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began)
     x x x x x x (x a)
     x x (x B)
     x x x x x x (x a)
     x x a (x B)
     
     This Time of Year by Barbara Hartman
      
     Today on Lizard Head, snow-pack
     recoils, recedes
     — streams swell, dry reservoirs snapback,
     resource restored.
     
     Creeks cavort, rush to join rivers,
     boulders tumble.
     The Dolores races, shivers,
     quivers, trembles.
     
     White-water rapids slap riprap,
     romp, run away,
     Rocky Mountain snowcap renders
     runoff today.
      
• The elements of the Deachnadh mor are:
  1. written in any number of quatrains.
  2. syllabic. 8-6-8-6.
  3. composed with two-syllable end words.
  4. in each line 2 words must alliterate.
  5. written with the last word of L4 alliterating with the previous stressed word.
  6. L1 and L3 consonant end rhyme.  Cross rhyme employs consonant rhyme from mid L2 to the end word of L3 and the end word of L1 to mid L2.  (No true rhyme.) But the internal rhyme of L3 is true rhyme with the end word of L2  and mid L4 is true rhyme with the end word of L3, the end word of L4 is consonant rhyme with L2.
     x x x b x x (x a)
     x x a x (x B)
     x x x x B x (x a)
     x x A x (x b )
     
     (I know this example piece misses the mark a bit on 2 syllable end words and consonant rhyme but it is close and I like the poem.)

     The ides of March are come by Barabara Hartman
                    (~from Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1. William Shakespeare)

     Snow pellets pound against west door,
     drifts drape fences, winds roar,
     crystals grout flagstone terrace floor;
     March shouts, threats, wages war.
     
     Mesa and mountain disappear
     where tumbling white beads flow,
     falling ever faster, nearer,
     filling fields with spring snow.

[Tinker]

Deachnadh mor
in each line 2 words must alliterate. written with the last word of L4 alliterating with the previous stressed word. 

x x x b x x (x a)
x x a x (x B)
x x x x B x (x a)
x x A x (x b )

[Tinker]

The elements of the Deachnadh Cummaisc are:

1. written in any number of quatrains.
2. syllabic 8-4-8-4 or 8-4-4-8
3. written with consonance rhyme (Rhyming the first or last consonant of the line. Vowel sounds need not be rhymed.) abab cdcd etc
4. usually written with 2 syllable end words.
5. when L3 is written with a 2 syllable end word, aicill rhyme is employed.  Aicill rhyme is rhyming the penultimate word of L4 with the end rhyme of L3.
6. written with cywddydd (harmony of sound) and dunadh (ending the poem with the same word, phrase or line with which the poem began)
   x x x x x x (x a)
   x x (x B)
   x x x x x x (x a)
   x x a (x B)