A 'sonnet like' rural inspired rhyming short verse with a 'abab' quatrain followed by five rhymed couplets from England's master poet of English language spoken poesy.
Someone perusing all the lines I penned
before this century would surely think
I must have signed a contract to produce
just poems with the strictest rhyming schemes!
It seemed my mind was programmed to create
rhymed couplets or a-b-c-b quatrains.
I asked myself then, “Must you always rhyme?
If so, you could at least try other styles.”
Because I’d always liked to read blank verse,
I vowed I’d take the plunge and write some too!
I love the partial freedom it affords.
While rhyming’s not included, meter is—
those five iambic feet I so adore.
April 5, 2023
for the Simply Poetry 2 Contest
Sponsor: John Lawless
The great outdoors affords the chance
to stretch my limbs, let down my guard,
put up a hammock in the yard.
In summertime to leave the manse
feels good with grass under bare toes.
Inhale the jasmine and the rose,
and savor sights of happenstance:
to spot a squirrel, croaking toad,
or doe and fawn crossing the road.
On mountaintops I do a dance
of triumph after a hard hike
and bask in breezes on my bike,
then waltz my bride in summer's trance
as strains of 'Blue Danube' tiptoe
through memories of long ago.
The great outdoors affords the chance
in summertime, to leave the manse
and savor sights of happenstance.
On mountaintops I do a dance
then waltz my bride in summer's trance.
Constanza
Created by Soup's own Connie Marcum Wong, a Constanza consists of 3-line stanzas of 8-syllable lines, where the first lines of each stanza are monorhymed and combined to form the final stanza. The remaining lines of each stanza are rhymed couplets.
I'd find nirvana, if I could,
on distant coast by lapping bay,
far from all strain of daunting day.
Sustain no drama, as I should,
an ataraxis of my mind
that is a spot I'd wish to find.
If I ask you to join, you would
find full placidity flows not
from finding an idyllic spot.
Unlock this truth that long has stood:
it's good to know tranquility,
pursuing kind civility.
Concordant harmony is good;
it's worth our diamonds and bankroll
to own it in our inmost soul.
I'd find nirvana, if I could,
sustain no drama, as I should.
If I ask you to join, you would
unlock this truth that long has stood:
concordant harmony is good.
Lipogram
A lipogram is a composition from which the writer systematically omits a certain letter or letters of the alphabet (in this case, the letter 'e').
Constanza
Created by Soup's own Connie Marcum Wong, a Constanza consists of 3-line stanzas of 8-syllable lines, where the first lines of each stanza are monorhymed and combined to form the final stanza. The remaining lines of each stanza are rhymed couplets.
rhymed couplets
Advice from the oldest in the pasture,
former race horse, derby grandmaster.
We are not losers let loose in the fields;
we horses tell how effortless "wild" feels
No jockeys here, no brutal whips.
No metal bar between my lips.
No braids in my tail making knots,
I will never be forced into slots.
No giddy crowds, no owner's frowns,
All handicaps stayed at the downs.
Out in the field when push comes to shove?
We move aside, think nothing thereof.
Winning is running, hear the steeds confess.
Trophies and purses? We horses care less.
For jockeys, all is lost past number three;
for horses, the winning is running free.
March 7, 2020
MY GARDEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My glorious, gratifying, garden!
Self-sufficient, my resolve must harden!
Learn to cultivate, carefully, cabbages.
Lettuce, beetroot and bright red radishes.
Onions are sliced special, simple salad.
Hot summer days, tasty, glad we had it!
Next fabulous, fresh fruit followed, fat figs!
On many a day, my spade and me, digs.
Keeping the fresh food flowing, fresh flowers?
Sweet, fresh cut, on the table, last for hours!
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:
A stanza of any length, consisting entirely of rhymed couplets.
The final word of the first line of each couplet must be a noun
Three alliterative words must precede that noun.
The next line must rhyme with the first.
There is no metric or line-length restraint.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.