Rondel
The rondel is one of several French verse forms with confusingly similar names and rather similar natures. To make matters worse, the recipe is not completely fixed; a rondel can have either 13 or 14 lines.
The rhyming scheme of the first 12 lines is fixed: abba/abab/abba, with the first two lines forming a refrain. The refrain is repeated as lines 7 and 8. In a 14-line rondel, or rondel supreme, the climax comes when the whole of the refrain is repeated again, as lines 13 and 14. In a 13-line rondel, as above, one line of the refrain - it doesn't matter which - is repeated as line 13.
Sijo
Sijo (the word is both singular and plural) also resembles haiku in having a strong foundation in nature, but its lines average 14-16 syllables, for a total of 44-46. For best results, poets follow these and other guidelines very closely.
Either narrative or thematic, this lyric verse introduces a situation or problem in line 1, development (called a turn) in line 2, and a strong conclusion beginning with a surprise (a twist) in line 3, which resolves tensions or questions raised by the other lines and provides a memorable ending.
Example:
Bandanas wave from cedar boughs; beneath, a pyre of stone.
On army land Geronimo sleeps, clouds pass over the sun.
This warrior cry inside my head, an echo or just a dream.
Ekphrastic
“A poem is nothing but a picture painted black and white.” This anonymous quote perfectly explains ekphrastic poetry. Like a caption following a picture, a poem about a painting contains additional information relating to the contents of the painting. The information portrayed in the poem may not be the painters intended objective in painting what and how they painted. It is simply an opinionative description of what the poet sees.
Scallop
The Scallop poem consists of three six line stanzas rhyming abccba, deffed, ghiihg. Iambic flow of 2 4 6 6 4 2 syllables to the line in each stanza, thus forming the shape of a scallop.
Glose or Glosa
The glose originated in Spain, where it is known as the glosa. It has two parts, which are normally written by different authors. The first part - the texte or cabeza - consists of a few lines which set the theme for the entire poem. Typically this will be a stanza from a well-known poem or poet - although it is perfectly permissible to write your own texte.
The second part - the glose or glosa proper - is a gloss on, or explanation of, the texte. It takes the form of an **ode, with one stanza per line of the texte. Each stanza in turn expands upon its corresponding line of texte, and ends with a repetition of it. An example will make this clearer.
Another blow for press freedom
Texte (1)The painful warrior famoused for fight *(a)
(2)After a thousand victories once foiled *(b)
(3)Is from the book of honour razèd quite *(a)
(4)And all the rest forgot for which he toiled. *(b)
Glose A thug, about him something of the night,
But our thug, who took up arms and stood firm,
Brave, strong and tall for what he thought was right.
A hero, though he’d blush to hear the term,
(1)The painful warrior famoused for fight.
A realist, this craggy hunk; hard-boiled,
But never thought to find a single blot
On his once proud escutcheon. Now it’s soiled
Beyond recall. His reputation’s shot,
(2)After a thousand victories once foiled.
He rails against his fate, the sudden blight
That chills him. Life will never be the same.
The days drag by. He lies awake at night,
Cold, haunted by the knowledge that his name
(3)Is from the book of honour razèd quite.
His future, once so bright, has now been spoiled;
His past’s no longer what it used to be.
Admirers he once had have all recoiled,
Wiped tapes, burnt photos, pulped biography,
(4)And all the rest forgot for which he toiled.
*The texte here comes from Shakespeare's sonnet 25. For the glose, this one uses 5-line stanzas rhyming ababa. 4-line or 8-line stanzas are more usual, but any kind of **ode stanza is acceptable.
**What is an Ode?
•
It has more than one stanza
•All the stanzas have the same metre and rhyming scheme
•Every line rhymes with at least one other line in the same stanza.
Blank Verse and Free Verse
Blank Verse any verse comprised of unrhymed lines all in the same meter, usually iambic pentameter
Free Verse
Free Verse The wonderful, wonderful thing about free verse, is that it has very few distinct rules or boundries. It is similar to blank verse in that it does not rhyme, but unlike blank verse, it is not written in iambic pentameter.
The rhythm or cadence of free verse varies throughout the poem. Though the words don't rhyme, they flow along their own uneven pattern.
Iambic Pentameter
The Sonnet -
In a traditional Sonnet there are 14 lines. The poet introduces at least one "volta" (or a jump or shift in direction of the emotions or thought), usually somewhat after the middle of the Sonnet.
If the poet writes in the form of the Sicilian Sonnet, Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet, or French Sonnet, she begins with an octave and concludes with a sestet. She places the volta between the octave and the sestet. She may indicate the volta by a stanza break.
In English, we are especially familiar with the English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet and the Spenserian Sonnet. In both, the poet groups lines in three quatrains followed by a closing rhymed couplet. She places a shift (a more subtle change than the volta) between the second and third quatrains.
In addition to the above, the English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet has an alternating rhyme scheme in the quatrains (e.g., "a b a b"). Also a turn between the third quatrain and the concluding couplet. Often this marks a change from the presentation of images and the building of a case (in the quatrains). After the turn, the poet often states a conclusion, sometimes the "meaning" or "purpose" (leit motive) of the poem.
It often has its greatest power in the concluding couplet.
Meanwhile, the Spenserian Sonnet (in addition to features shared with the English (or Shakespearean) Sonnet) has an envelope or kissing rhyme, "a b b a".
The original Sicilian Sonnet arrived in the early thirteenth century at the Sicilian court of Frederick II. The Sicilian Sonnet has an octave of rima alternata ("alternating rhyme"). In the initial version, the same word was repeated instead of new words being introduced in rhyme.
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Prose Poetry
Prose poetry is poetry written as prose (ordinary speech or writing), in other words it is a hybrid form combining poetry and prose. While it lacks the line breaks associated with poetry, the prose poem maintains a poetic quality and often maintains some of the essential elements of traditional poetry written in verse such as rhythm, rhyme, repetition, assonance, consonance, and imagery. The prose poem can range in length from a few lines to several pages long, and it may explore a limitless array of styles and subjects.
Example:
"I Remember You As You Were"
By Pablo Neruda
I remember you as you were in the last autumn.
You were the grey beret and the still heart.
In your eyes the flames of the twilight fought on.
And the leaves fell in the water of your soul.
Clasping my arms like a climbing plant
the leaves garnered your voice, that was slow and at peace.
Bonfire of awe in which my thirst was burning.
Sweet blue hyacinth twisted over my soul.
I feel your eyes travelling, and the autumn is far off:
grey beret, voice of a bird, heart like a house
towards which my deep longings migrated
and my kisses fell, happy as embers.
Sky from a ship. Field from the hills:
Your memory is made of light, of smoke, of a still pond!
Beyond your eyes, farther on, the evenings were blazing.
Dry autumn leaves revolved in your soul.
Prose poetry dates as far back as the book of Psalms in the King James version of the Bible.
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Quatrain
A stanza or poem of four lines.
Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme.
Lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme.
Rhyming lines should have a similar number of syllables.
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