I know I promised we would go back to the ‘shape’ poetry forms soon, and we will. But this is a form I discovered very recently and tried out to see if it is humanly possible to get a poem out of it without too much loss of blood or hair. It is! In fact it’s quite simple.
A quatern, if you didn’t already know is a poem of sixteen lines divided into four stanzas with a refrain that changes place in each stanza . The only other rules are:
Each line must have eight syllables
The first line (the refrain) becomes the second line of the second stanza, third line of the third and last line of the completed poem.
There are no restrictions on rhyme or metre, but I have tried for a simple rhyme pattern and a bit of a rhythm because I wanted to. You don’t have to unless the extra challenge appeals.
This is my example, those two moons again.
Two moons rose on a darkened field,
The stars were hid and no light showed,
But falling beams of darkness cold,
A voiceless wind in silence flowed.
While swell tides swallowed shore and cliff,
Two moons rose on a darkened field,
And veils of snow hid their wan light,
Till wild winds tore the flimsy shield.
From the uncharted depths of night,
Cold rocks circled the dying sun,
Two moons rose on a darkened field,
Growing, greening, forever done.
And when the mountains, rivers, seas,
The very heavens forced to yield,
No moving finger writ, the end,
Two moons rose on a darkened field.
The best way to start is to think of a good, strong first line (eight syllables, remember) that will stand up to use as a refrain. The rest is easy.
Post your poems or links here anytime this coming week. Looking forward to seeing the results.
Lovely! I’m going to have to try this format now!
I hope you do!
A beautiful form and a haunting poem. 🙂
Thank you Janice. I hope you’ll try it.
I certainly hope to–as you said, first step will be to choose a refrain — 🙂
You just need the kind of line that forms the favourite line in a poem. Maybe take a line from a poem you’ve already written and trim it to eight syllables. The rest will flow from there 🙂
That’s an interesting idea–or I was thinking about using a phrase from an old poets work (none chosen) with attribution of course–perhaps better if not done in a repeated refrain context though…the week is young :). Thanks for the idea:)
Why not? The great poets do tend to have written the best lines!
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Love this! A new year and a new resolve… not to miss any more of your poetry prompts! Well, I know I’ve said that before, but I really need to practice writing poetry, and writing has gone on hold the last few months. Time to get back on track.
This poetry challenge has made me research forms of poetry I’d never even heard of. Some of them are complicated and it’s mental torture finding the right words. This one is easy though. All you need is one good line that sparks your enthusiasm and you’re away. Don’t bother about rhymes etc that’s not in the rules.
Ok. Off to Carys’s school now but I’ll have a go this aft!
I’ll be checking up on you this time 🙂
Ok! 😁
Thank you for the excellent example. This was a tough one. Here’s mine, titled No Mercy:
Rising waters have no mercy
No wall, nor bank, will bar their way
Nature will show no clemency
So take your chances, come what may
Altered routes through rearranging
Rising waters have no mercy
Currents, channels always changing
With Nature there’s no guarantee
Channels confined, that should be free
Levees banked to offer relief
Rising waters have no mercy
Instead they bring regrets and grief
Complacent minds will rue the day
Bottom homesteads pay Nature’s fee
Hopes and memories washed away
Rising waters have no mercy
https://rivrvlogr.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/no-mercy/
Hopefully I can strike a chord with this one: https://peterbouchier.wordpress.com/english-essays-and-poems-2/january-blues/
I turned to my youngest muse for help with this one. My granddaughter Zoe! Thanks for sharing this new form for us to practice Jane. I enjoyed it very much!
https://kmmyrman.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/zoe/
I’m glad about that! I didn’t want to put people off with something really difficult. This form doesn’t really impose too much when you analyse it—glad you had a go 🙂
Hi! Once I got into the rhythm of it, it flowed. I like it very much. Thanks Jane!
I’m glad you plunged in 🙂
Me too! 🙂
I think I got it right this time! Thanks for the patience!
No patience needed 🙂
🙂
lovely poem, interesting form… 🙂
Thank you! Have you tried it out yet?
Not yet, I write stories with sonnets 🙂
This was quite a challenge for me. Still in process, but how it stands today:
https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/nine-squares-for-ellsworth-kelly/
Thanks for the challenge!
https://crow.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/poem-20160109/
Here is my offering:
http://elusivetrope.com/2016/01/09/tomorrow/
Here’s my link, Jane. Hope you have a peaceful Sunday reading quaterns.
http://writinginnorthnorfolk.com/2016/01/10/the-seafarers-garden/
I am, Kim 🙂 Thanks for your entry. Made me long for the threat of winter, if not the winter itself, to be over.
Thanks for this challenge Jane– an opportunity to try a longer poem–not too hard and not too easy… 8 syllables feels like a new language (compared to more familiar 5, 7 or even 6) Anyway, it was fun and I ended up with 2 attempts…the second one will show up soon. 😊
The first one was good. I’m looking forward to reading the second 🙂
Quatrain! I’ve read a few lately.. I’ve got the itch to try to write one.
Quatern. I think a quatrain’s something different. Do try. You have the satisfaction of writing a poem that looks as though it must have been complicated, when really, it’s quite straightforward 🙂
Love the encouragement. 💖
Although they published it without the stanza breaks for some reason, I used a quatern for this Silver Birch Press entry. It is a good form I think.
https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/translation-for-montserrat-roig-poem-by-kerfe-roig-same-name-poetry-and-prose-series/