Suzette Crous's Blog

Good day TPS and all PoetrySoup members

ABECEDARIAN/ Abecedarium & ABC

The abecedarian is an ancient poetic form guided by alphabetical order. Generally each line or stanza begins with the first letter of the alphabet and is followed by the successive letter, until the final letter is reached, thus using the whole alphabet. It also must be written about only one topic. The earliest examples are Semitic and often found in religious Hebrew poetry. The form was frequently used in ancient cultures for sacred compositions, such as prayers, hymns, and psalms. There are numerous examples of abecedarians in the Hebrew Bible; one of the most highly regarded is Psalm 118 (or 119 by King James numbering). It consists of twenty-two eight-line stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Abecedarian poems are now most commonly used as mnemonic devices and word games for children. The “A for apple, B for ball, etc” is the over simplified form of an abecedarian poem. An abecedarian poem is similar to the ABC poem, but uses all the letters in the alphabet. It starts with "A" and works all the way down to "Z".

Per the definition here on PoetrySoup of ABC poetry form:

“Poetry in which every word begins with a successive letter of the alphabet. The first word begins with A, the second with B, etc. OR A poem that has 5 lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines 1 through 4 are made up of words, phrases or clauses - and the first word of each line is in alphabetical order from the first word. Line 5 is one sentence, beginning with any letter.”

THIS SEEMS TO CONCUR WITH THE ABOVE:

ABC Poems: Definition and Examples
An ABC poem is a type of poem that has five lines that create a mood, picture, or evokes feelings. These poems are five lines long. The words at the beginning of lines 1 through 4 are in alphabetical order and are made up of words, phrases or clauses. Line 5 is one sentence long and begins with any letter.

http://loi-renee.hubpages.com/hub/ABC-Poems-Definitions-and-Examples

This seems to be in contradiction to....

Definition of ABC poem: (From the internet)
An ABC poem has a series of lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines are made up of words and phrases. The first word of line 1 begins with an A, the first word of line 2 begins with a B etc.
Example of ABC poem - author unknown

Example:
A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow

http://www.poeticterminology.net/01-abc-poem.htm

TANKA/KYOKA

swift terns

tumbling in the sky

celebrating

joy in sharing

the spirit of freedom

© 2013 Suzette Crous

NB The 21 syllable count favoured by the new movement in writing western tanka - this is more true to the on in Japanese tanka. ~ Su

Am I the only one cringing at the rhyme? Tanka (singular as wells as plural) do not allow rhyme. The mere fact that it includes rhyme, places it in the classification of being kyoka. Then there is the issue of the capital letters at the start of each line and it has a title!!!! which could not be construed as a headnote in your wildest dreams. Do I need to say anymore? ~Su

More on kyoka: http://kujakupoet.blogspot.com/2006/06/kyoka-vs-tanka-examples_08.html

Here is a website which has a FRESH NEW LOOK at TANKA. Many of the websites on the Internet appear to be verbatim copies of one another and they perpetuate urban legends regarding this noble art.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Example_of_tanka

***

By these few examples above, I have endeavoured to illustrate the shortcomings of the existing poetry form definitions and the often misleading information and examples found here on PoetrySoup.

If you take writing poetry seriously, as I do, and would like to have your poems correctly identified – which has an indirect impact on an Internet search for a particular poetry form – then I urge you to put pen to paper and write to TPS THIS WEEK and ask for a complete revision of the poetry forms listed and a more updated list of poetry forms. This matter, also, has an impact on the contests on PS as contestants are often confused by the conflicting information.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. ~ Su