Poetry time
Every line chimes
Stop on a dime
A buck for a rhyme
What’s a meta for
Similes are, like, a bore
A terzanelle’s attractive
Tho a villanelle’s more proactive
Witches vex trochaic pentameter
Curse iambic HEXameter
Traditionalists eschew free verse
Blank verse is that much worse…
Romance, a hackneyed chore
While humor is adored
Satire rates high too
Tear-jerkers ~ boo-hoo
Poetry time
Elbow grease and grime
Lines sparkle and shine
Craftsmanship sublime
Fair are my dream souvenirs of flowery fields.
Fairer still are my thoughts of you when I awake.
The magic of your memory over me wields
A secret sorcery that only you can make.
I am completely yours, my heart is held captive.
I have no will of my own and am wholly yours.
Somehow, you are a mighty force that is tractive
And my happy heart under your fair pull endures.
I do not want to be free from your enchantment.
In your soft arms I find my greatest contentment.
Give me all of your love and your sweet kisses, too.
And like the flowers in beauty live, just we two.
by Lanier Thomas
Today I feel iambic! I would say
of all the meters, I like it the best.
An iamb starts with some soft sound to say
then ev'ry second syllable is stressed.
Trochees likewise, alternate their stresses;
even-numbered syllables are muted.
Nowhere near as popular (my guess is) -
Trochee fans, though, fervently dispute it.
Feet are the units of meter - such fun!
Dactyls have syllables STRESSED/, un-/, and un-.
"T'was the Night Before Christmas" is in Anapest:
that's a foot with three syllables: un-/, un-/, and
STRESSED.
The meter is the pattern of the beats within a line
"Iambic" and "Heptameter" describe this line just fine.
Anapestic Tetrameter: four anapests;
and the best part of THIS lecture series? No tests!
Trimeter has three feet
Tetrameter has just four feet
Pentameter adds one foot, making five
Hexameter adds one: six feet in this beehive
Heptameter has seven feet, but now it's getting late;
and so I'll close with this (you may have guessed):
Octameter has eight!
written 1 July 2023
In the dark of the night, on an All Hallows' Eve,
as I lay down my head and got snugged in the bed,
'twas a shadow that bloomed, caused all senses to leave,
as a huge hairy spider crawled, eyes gleaming red!
Out in front, a large sack that she shuffled along,
so I watched as she loped with that load full of gore,
like the beat from a dirge or a horrid old song,
da-duh-DUM, da-duh-DUM, as she moved 'cross the floor.
Shaking hard, to the edge of the bed, silent crept;
There she was, hairy legs, abdomen bulging fat.
Sweaty palms, frazzled nerves, in the darkness I lept,
closed my eyes, held my breath, threw my slipper - Kersplat!
and as she scuttled off, protecting precious eggs,
I wondered how she'd sound with two more dangling legs.
---------------
for the All Hallows' Evening Poetry Contest
sponsored by Craig Cornish
written on 10/19/22
using anapestic tetrameter for the first 12 lines
and iambic hexameter for the last 2 for effect
(howmanysyllables.com incorrectly reports line 3 as 11 syllables due to the ')
Two souls brought up in distinct surroundings
with many perspectives about life, decide
to come together to form outstanding
relationship for their lives with nothing to hide.
Building a relationship isn't easy
arguments and disagreements sometimes crazy;
it's told that arguing can be uneasy
but relationship never should be so heavy.
Studies say, spouses complaining to each
other most and grumble about least important
things end up having more lasting outreach
better relationships and also supporting
So arguing on simple issuess assists
to build a relationship better, work as gifts.
~x~x~
Whimsical Sonnet
This Sonnet form was introduced in a contest on Allpoetry by Numi_Earl_Grey.
Lines alternate between iambic pentameter and iambic hexameter.
So that's lines of ten and twelve syllables,
Rhyme scheme is ABAB CCCC DEDE FF' where F' is a near rhyme to F.
Pasted from http://poetscollective.org/everysonnet/whimsical-sonnet/
Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Lawrence Eberhart for a wonderful resource at Poets COLLECTIVE site.
'Poetry' pinged me
I shiver and cringe
I know what she wants
With her probing syringe
To prod me with metaphor
Simile and eloquent imagery
Line, foot, iambic pentameter
Assonance, consonance
trochaic hexameter
But I'll have none of it
Cogito, ergo sum!
Here a bit of free verse
There a dash of rhyme
~ May 'Poetry' fume
My broken dreams I buried in depth of dismay
under the distal dust of creeping twilight hour,
as the faces I adored drifted away far
and faded at the obscure edge of empty mind.
The pallet of life I filled with the sunrise sky,
its colors spilled in storm wind as it split apart.
Shards of pale canvas of memory lie decayed
in sepulcher of time while I wait to depart.
May 30, 2019
Contest : Pick A Tile, Vol 5 - Verse
Sponsor : Edward Ibeh
Title Chosen : Sepulchered Memories
(Set in iambic hexameter)
Flamingo Buzzards
Our buzzards and flamingos...mismatched as can be,
tho each have wings and feet, the buzzard is compact:
flamingos, tall and slim, scoop shrimp so charmingly,
while buzzards from the air, hunt prey to be attacked.
Somehow, this hobby recently appeared to merge
the grizzly buzzard, sleek flamingo...make one bird.
Whatever spurred them on to have this sudden urge?
Combining these two species seems to be absurd.
Used as lawn ornaments, most oft on Halloween,
in groups of two or three, they're noticed right away.
Our eyes become confused absorbing what is seen;
this combination is unique...not nature's way.
Now, how did this spread 'round as a creative feat,
to merge such varied species, post online the guides
on how to join together birds with wings and feet
with nothing else in common? Logic overrides!
Sandra M. Haight
Form: Iambic Hexameter (12 syllables, 6 feet per line)
These crazy crafts have become very popular.
Just type 'flamingo buzzards' on your Internet
search bar, and you will see them.
One of the first to land, it took me by surprise
because bright sunrays glowed behind an ashen cloud.
Upon the glass-topped table, right before my eyes
this tiny pearl of wonder came to me, avowed
its army, made of millions, soon would override,
to smother every garden, grassland, bushes, trees.
It warned me to seek shelter, quickly run inside
before the fast, relentless force drove in to seize.
Its shiny dome reflected darkness from the sky.
How long had it been falling till it landed here?
The first to make it through, the siege to verify,
my messenger, a raindrop, braved the atmosphere
and warned me to take cover, quickly run and hide,
'fore army, made of millions, drowned the countryside.
Sandra M. Haight
~3rd Place~
Contest: The Raindrop
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
Judged: 11/25/2018
Sonnet, written in Iambic Hexameter
12 syllables, 6 feet per line
Stormy Summer Day
Torrential downpours drown this summer day...
huge puddles forming, filled with tears of rain.
No sun or sky of blue...my heart gives way
to sadness while my mood reflects the pain
of how a gray and rainy day can bring
a sorrow from my heart to hurt anew.
Contagious is the dreariness that clings
when stormy days bring darkness into view
with solemn thoughts of sunshine gone...and, missing you.
Sandra M. Haight
~1st Place~
Contest: No. 475
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Judged: August 6, 2018
~6th Place~
Premiere Contest: Summer Rain Storm
Sponsor: Dale Gregory Cozart
Judged: 07/09/2018
The form required is Spencerian Stanza, consisting of nine lines. The rhyme is ababbcbcc. The first eight lines must be written in iambic pentameter, and the ninth line must be written in iambic hexameter(12 syllables).
Dactylic Hexameter
My love for family I do not hide or set high on a wooden shelf.
Baubles of life are here having a jot influence over a rime of things.
One hawks a sweeter enticement diverting us like a small candy elf.
Placed in a closet of my heart it offers now no threat to inner self.
Booty that makes us rich seems a bit ornament gaining a shoddy pelf.
Family time is togetherness knowing the pleasures it often brings.
We talk but nothing unusual like blue and white on ceramic delf.
Time for a lady and children as husbands sit talking as royal kings.
A play ends just, a wretched play, that I’m no more.
And you yourself, with vex, dismay, that I’m no more?
Bleeding grass, burning air, woods ashen, and you weeping,
It’s a bit too convenient, nay, that I’m no more?
The letter with the rhymeless elegy-- it’s soaked,
I hardly muse now, what you’ll say, that I’m no more!
Stranded and shifting, quite like light on water, Dew,
Reflection mine, why do you stay, when I’m no more?
-Pin Dew (02/05/2017)
Note: Experimental Ghazal- The lines are in Iambic Hexameter. Usually, English Ghazals follow Syllabic Prosody, but here I am using Accentual-Syllabic Prosody.
Humanity sometimes presents inanity
when mentality lacks solid morality.
Profanity awakens stark brutality...
replaces vitality with insanity.
Urbanity is lost in our reality
when our mundanity becomes formality
and dark volcanity leads to fatality.
Sandra M. Haight
~NA~
Premiere Contest: Word Challenge
Sponsor: Silent One
Iambic Hexameter: 12 syllables, 6 feet per line
Required Words: Insanity, Humanity, Profanity, Inanity, Mundanity,
Urbanity, Fatality, Reality, Brutality, Formality, Mentality, Morality
Vitality, Volcanity
Sir Thomas Wyatt brought it to our English scene,
called a dodecasyllabo or alexandrine:
whatever!..
an iambic hexameter is what it means
inspired by John's 12 syllable line contest
Deforestation
I stood, AMBIVALENT to full and LUSCIOUS scenes
in this ARCANE, new woodland, BITTERSWEET with views;
FLAMBOYANT yet QUIESCENT, TACTILE thoughts came forth
of similar QUINTESSENCE brutally destroyed
by INTERCESSOR...'progress and development'...
the IMMOLATION of past woodlands' lovely trees.
Sandra M. Haight
~3rd Place~
Contest: Ten Word Challenge II
Capitalized Words Are The Required Ten Words
Sponsor: John Hamilton
Judged: 11/25/2016
Form: Blank Verse
Iambic Hexameter - 12 syllables, 6 feet per line
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