III. Bengali , The Payar

[Tinker]

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry
Indian Verse
Regional Forms

III. Bengali Poetry is from the Bengali Region, Eastern India and dates back to the 10^th century . Its origins were in mystic poetry but later became known for its epics.

The Payār is the most common form from the Bengali Region.

The elements of the Payar are:

1. stanzaic, written in any number of couplets.
2. rhymed. aa bb cc etc.
3. syllabic, 14 syllables lines which are normally broken into 4 units.

   4 4 * 4 2
   4 4 * 4 2
   or
   xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, xa
   xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, xa

   Temptation by Judi Van Gorder
   Words in color, writ in anger, meant to provoke, to prod,
   rude distraction, wrong direction, lead me away from God.

Regional Verse Forms