Resources (1): Update on Books on Form - a post in progress

• The Book of Forms: a Handbook of Poetics Including Odd and Invented Forms  Lewis Putnam Turco (UPNE 2012)

• • Covered in Rhyme (Poetry: its Forms & Terms) Alan J. Carter and Bernard M. Jackson (QQ Press in two parts, UK, £6 incl. of p&p. Rest of world postage on request). Part 1, by Bernard, covers 37 forms. Part 2, by Alan, is a glossary of literary and poetic terms.Muse & Metre Dr. H. Tulsi, ed. of Metverse Muse (India) - and Bernard M. Jackson

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  The Book of New Poetry Forms Wendy Webb (Obooko, Wendy Webb Books)Two books that will be interesting to read from the point of view of their differing theses, one being Moving Words, Forms of English Poetry Derek Attridge (OUP). 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections Dr Marc L. Latham (Kindle or print edition)

  You Only Guide Me by Surprise: Poetry and the Dolphin's Turn Peter Sacks. The Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry, delivered on 7 May 2010 by Peter Sacks.

   

   
  
  • The Book of Forms: a Handbook of Poetics Including Odd and Invented Forms Lewis Putnam Turco (UPNE 2012)

  
  

  • Covered in Rhyme (Poetry: its Forms & Terms) Alan J. Carter and Bernard M. Jackson (QQ Press in two parts, UK, £6 incl. of p&p. Rest of world postage on request). Part 1, by Bernard, covers 37 forms. Part 2, by Alan, is a glossary of literary and poetic terms.
    

  
  

  • Muse & Metre Dr. H. Tulsi, ed. of Metverse Muse (India) - and Bernard M. Jackson

  
  

  • The Book of New Poetry Forms Wendy Webb (Obooko, Wendy Webb Books)                                      

  • Two books that will be interesting to read from the point of view of their differing theses, one being Moving Words, Forms of English Poetry Derek Attridge (OUP).

  
  

  •  242 Mirror Poems and Reflections Dr Marc L. Latham (Kindle or print edition)

  
  

• You Only Guide Me by Surprise: Poetry and the Dolphin's Turn Peter Sacks. The Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry, delivered on 7 May 2010 by Peter Sacks.

    

   

New Forms (17): ZaniLa Rhyme

I was looking for a form with minimal rhyme and this is what I discovered instead on the Shadow Poetry site. I look forward to experimenting ...

New Forms (16): Erasure Poems - not so new, in fact!

This post was sparked by a conversation on LinkedIn, started by Sandra P.

For a podcast by Ron Silliman for the American Poetry Foundation on the Erasure Poem, click here.

Poetics (2): Ramage, coined by Robert Bly

Background ...

I was interested to read about Robert Bly's notion of what he has named the Ramage. This feature of his poetry concerns the musicality of sound produced by the 'union of a consonant and a vowel' (e.g. an or er) within his eight-line stanzas.

• example on the web e.g. the third of Four Ramages by Robert Bly 

• More examples of Ramages

Welsh Poetry Forms (1): Gwawdodyn Hir

You will find a link here to Robert Lee Brewer's post on the Welsh syllabic Gwawdodyn Hir poetry form. It looks fun to try! There is more information here. 

New Forms (15): The Triversen

Thanks are due to Bernard Jackson in Alan J. Carter's Quantum Leap poetry magazine (issue no.61, Feb. 2013) for drawing my attention to this form. Bernard describes it as a 'loose' form with cadent capabilities.

Background to the Triversen

William Carlos Williams is associated with the Triversen - or 'triple-verse-sentence' form.

• The Triversen on The Poet's Garret site
• and on Ben Johnson's Poetry Forms

New Forms (14): Careerhymes

Background ...

... to the Careerhyme, a light-hearted form created by J.Patrick Lewis, can be found here on the Gottabook website, belonging to Greg Pincus, creator of the Fib.

You can find an example by Mary Lee Hahn here.  

New Forms (13): Robert Lee Brewer's Mad Libs Poems

Background to Robert Lee Brewer's Mad Libs poems form can be found here. 

Compose a Mad Libs poem! Instructions can be found here.  

We adapted the set exercise in our writing workshop. It was a lot of fun and resulted in some productive pieces.

Reference Post (1): Links

Every so often I encounter a site on the web that shares other poetry sites. It seemed the right moment to list a few of these. I hope you will find something to do with poetic form(s) that strikes a chord.

• Odd and Invented Forms: Lewis Turco's 'Form of the Week'
• The Wordshop - a list of forms including e.g. the Dodoitsu and Haijinx
• Robert Lee Brewer (Writer's Digest) - a list including e.g. Blitz and Cascade poems
• The Poet's Garret - including, for instance, the Cornish Sonnet
• Minimalist Poetry
• Asemic Poetry - from Moria Poetry Journal

New Forms (12): Folding Mirror Poetry (ii)

Dr Marc Latham, creator of the Folding Mirror Poetry (FMP) form, has just brought out a book, 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections (available on Amazon as a Kindle or print edition). The work comprises 121 Mirror Poems and 121 accompanying Reflections, taking 'the reader on a journey from individual mind to infinite space'.

The book includes my Foreword on p.11, entitled 'The Palindrome Poem and Folding Mirror Poetry: Some Introductory Thoughts'.

The Folding Mirror poetry form was included in The Book of Forms: a Handbook of Poetics Including Odd and Invented Forms by Lewis Putnam Turco (UPNE 2012). FMP is currently 'Form of the Week' on Professor Turco's Invented Forms site.

There are two examples of the FMP in the The Book of Forms: a Handbook of Poetics Including Odd and Invented Forms, 'Hourglass of Time' by Claire Knight and 'Thalatta, Thalatta' by me, Caroline Gill.

• 1st post on this form 
• Introduction to my Brekekekex blog

Sonnet Sequence (5): The Swatantra Sonnet

Waves on The Lizard, Cornwall

Background to the Swatantra Sonnet form can be found here. 

Bangladeshi-American Poet-Editor Hassanal Abdullah invented the Swatantra Sonnet as a form in Bengali. Since then he has been experimenting with the form in English. Hassanal Abdullah is editor of Shabdaguchha magazine, a journal of bilingual poetry (you might like to take a look here).

Compose a Swatantra Sonnet! Instructions can be found here. 
A published example of a Swatantra Sonnet in English by Hassanal Abdullah can be found here in Poetrybay online magazine.

My published example of a 'Swatantra Sonnet-inspired poem': 'Vagrant Emperor' [13/2010] appears in Cornwall - an anthology of poetry and photographs (2012, compiled by Les Merton, photography by Angelicia) ISBN 978-1-906845-38-4. Les Merton is editor at Palores Publications and editor of Poetry Cornwall/Bardhonyeth Kernow.  

N.B. I have written 'Swatantra Sonnet-inspired' because my poem [13/2010] only has 10 syllables per line. This count seemed in keeping with the slender subject of this particular poem.   

New Forms (11): Naga-Uta

An example of the Naga-Uta can be found here. 

I have just come across a splendid example of the Japanese Naga-Uta form by fellow Suffolk poet, Ivor Murrell, on his Versifier site.

Compose a Naga-Uta poem! Instructions can be found here.

Sonnet Sequence (4): Nestorian Sonnet

In Nestor's Palace at Homer's 'sandy Pylos', Greece

Background to the Nestorian Sonnet ...   

I came across this new Sonnet form here on the Sound of Poetry Review. The form was invented by Filipino poet, Ernesto Pangilinan Santiago.


Compose a Nestorian Sonnet! Instructions can be found ...

here on the Sound of Poetry Review.

New Forms (10): Folding Mirror Poetry (i)

Background to the Folding Mirror Poem form ...  

Dr Marc Latham, the creator of this form, has been experimenting with it now for some years. You can read more on his Folding Mirror Poetry site here.

The form features in The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics Including Odd and Invented Forms by Professor Lewis Putnam Turco. The Book of Forms, now in its 4th edition, is published by the University Press of New England.

My published example: 

My poem, 'Thalatta, Thalatta', features in the book and on Marc's site. It has just been paired with a magnificent photograph by Adel Gorgy on the Immagine & Poesia site here, developed by Lidia Chiarelli.

• Caroline @ Coastcard post

New Forms (9): The Shadorma

My thanks to Robert Lee Brewer for drawing my attention to this form (along with many others).

Background to the Shadorma form ... 

The form is from Spain.

Compose a Shadorma poem! Instructions can be found ...

... here. You can find out more on Poetry Pages here.

There is an example here.

New Forms (8): Cuban Décima Mirror

Thanks to Gregory Pincus, inventor of the Fib poetry form (based on the Fibonacci Sequence), I have come across the Cuban Décima Mirror. This is not so much a new form as an adaptation of an old one. Greg identifies two stanzas of five lines each. Every line has eight syllables. The end-of-line 'stanza rhyme-words' mirror each other, and in this respect the form resonates with palindromic poetry and - for that matter - with Dr Marc Latham's Folding Mirror Poetry, although the CDM lacks the Folding Mirror central line.

Background to the Cuban Décima Mirror form ...

You can read more here (ensuring that you alight on p.xv) in 'The Latin Beat' by Ed Morales. Pamela Gray's Decima Poetry Lesson here may also be of interest.

New Forms (7): Sevenling

Zennor Mermaid

Sevenlings are short 

and fun to write.

Background to the Sevenling form can be found here. 

Roddy Lumsden invented the Sevenling about ten years ago, drawing on translations of a short verse by Anna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966).

Compose a Sevenling poem! Instructions can be found here.

My published example: 'Sevenling (Zennor Fish Tale)' in The Mermaid's Mother & Sycorax (Wendy Webb Books, 2020).  [13/2010]

French Poetry Forms (2): Quatern

Background to the Quatern form can be found here. 

Compose a Quatern poem! Instructions can be found here.

My published example: 'William Burges Wallpaper' (at Knightshayes Court, Devon) took Second Place in the 2010 Writelink Poetry Competition on the theme of 'Rivals'. Sarah James was the judge, and you can read her report here.

New Forms (6): Davidian, created by Wendy Webb

 The Origins of the Davidian

• can be found here on Wendy Webb's blog, 'New Forms for Old'. 

Compose a Davidian! Instructions can be found here:

• can be found here. 

My published examples:

• My poems in Wendy Webb's Davidian style (first published in the Davidian anthology, Wendy Webb Books), 'A Splash of Memories' and 'All the Fun of the Brecon Beacons Summer Fayre' have been re-printed in Aspire vol.4 2010 (ed. Ian Deal of Partners Poetry). This issue includes Part Two of the stipulations for Wendy's Davidian form. If I recall correctly, the previous number contains Part One. Partners Poetry has a Facebook page.

Persian Forms in English (2): The Tercet Ghazal

 The Origins of the Tercet Ghazal

•  can be found here, on Gino Peregrini's online journal, The Ghazal Page. 

Compose a Tercet Ghazal in English! Instructions can be found here:

• can be found here, on Gene Doty's online journal, The Ghazal Page. N.B. I am particularly drawn to this manifestation of the Tercet Ghazal ('Valentine Ghazal' by Ellen Pickus) on The Ghazal Page. 'Dawn' by Robert Bly is a brilliant example.

My published examples:

• 'Waves' can be found here on Gino Peregrini's online journal, The Ghazal Page.   
• 'The Ceilidh House' features here on My Delayed Reactions, Joanna Ezekiel's site. 

New Forms (5): Domino Rhyme

 Bass Rock, off the Scottish coast,

with Tantallon Castle in the foreground below

The origins of the Domino form:

I discovered this form on Bob Newman's site here. I am assuming that Bob created the form, but I am not sure whether this is the case. 

Compose a Domino poem! Instructions can be found here.

My published example:

'Tantallon' has been published in The Dawntreader, issue 012, Autumn 2010, (Indigo Dreams Publishing, editors Dawn Bauling and Ronnie Goodyer). [52/2009]

New Forms (4): The Lilibonelle

Mother and Pup

I have just heard that my poem, 'The Wishing Woman of Seal Bay' has been awarded First Prize in the Writelink 'Grape and Grain' Poetry Competition.

The judge was Jenny Moore, (Winner of the Divine Poetry Competition 2006, runner-up in Mslexia Poetry Competition 2007, Winner of Best Devon Poem in 2009 Plough Prize).

The poem is a Lilibonelle.

The Origins of the Lilibonelle form: 
It is a form created by Sol magazine editor, Bonnie Williams in the USA.

Oriental Poetry Forms in English (1): Guan Xiu's Unrhymed Quatrain

Guan Xiu wrote 9 poems about orchids
in the Complete Poetry of the Tang (Dynasty)

This post is, perhaps, rather late in the day, as I submitted my poem to Sol Magazine so long ago; but having found it on the web, it seemed a case of 'better late than never'.

*

My published example: you will find my short poem here, if you scroll down to the section marked:

MAY -- SIGHTS AND SCENTS OF SPRING -- UNRHYMED QUATRAIN

My Swansea poem took Second Position in a competition for unrhymed quatrains in the style of the Chinese poet, 貫休 or Guan Xiu (832-912).

*

Compose an Unrhymed Quatrain in the style of Guan Xiu:

The first of Two Poems Written on the Wall of a Villager's Cottage in Late Spring (here) will serve as a template for you to follow.

Persian/Arabic Poetry Forms in English (1): The Ghazal

The Origins of (or Mythology behind) Arabic Ghazal form:

1] Bernard M. Jackson has an excellent introduction to the origins of 'The Ghazal - A Poem of Passion' on p.38 of the latest edition of Quantum Leap (ed. Alan Carter), issue No. 51 for August 2010.

2] Gino Peregrini has brought out his Arabic Challenge edition of The Ghazal Page.

*

Compose an Arabic Ghazal! Instructions can be found here:

You will find Gino's edition here, along with a description of the form (and here).

*

My published example:

in the Arabic Challenge edition of The Ghazal Page: 'A Lonely Soul'*.

* ref. [8/2010]

Familiar Forms (2): The Kyrielle

'We leave the high road through the glen...'

from
The Winding Way
by Caroline Gill

[photo: sheep on Raasay]

I have just heard that my Kyrielle, The Winding Way*, has taken Joint Second Position in the Metverse Muse Fixed Form Poetry Competition 2010.

Dr H. Tulsi from Visakhatpatnam is the editor of Metverse Muse. The magazine's new book of poetry forms, Muse Clad in Costumes, contains two of my poems. I am looking forward to its arrival from India.

The Origins of (or Mythology behind) the Kyrielle:

The Kyrielle originated in France, where it was a favourite form of the Troubadours. The name evolves from the word Kyrie - as in liturgical Christian prayers. The title, Kyrie, derives from the Greek word, κύριος.

• Kyrielle
• Definition in the Encyclopedia Britannica

Compose a Kyrielle! Instructions can be found here:

• Robert Lee Brewer
  

My published example:

The Winding Way (in a new book of poetry forms, Muse Clad in Costumes, a Metverse Muse publication edited by Dr H. Tulsi, Visakhatpatnam, India, Summer 2010)


* [ref. 10/2010]

Poetics (1): Quotations on Craft

• Introduction and Welcome

'True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,

As those move easiest who have learned to dance...'

*
Alexander Pope

An Essay on Criticism

Sonnet Sequence (3): Millennielle

Background to the Millennielle Sonnet form ... 

This form was, I believe, created (or adapted from traditional sonnet forms) by Ian Deal, editor of Aspire. There is a feature on the form in Aspire Vol. 2 (2010). Vol. 3 contains two examples, Meteor by John Brown and Millenielle by Perry McDaid.

The Millennielle is based around the Shakespearean and the Petrarchan sonnet forms.

Compose a Millennielle Sonnet! These are the guidelines ...

The poem should have 14 lines not of iambic pentameter but of 8 syllables each, in tune with present calls for concise wording in poetry.

It should include the three stages of (1) introductory preposition, (2) development of preposition, and (3) conclusion.
 
The rhyme scheme and layout should be as follows:

ABBA

CDDC

EFFE

GG

I am guessing that the Volta or Turn comes at line 9 (thereby leading in to the conclusion at line 13), but this is an assumption on my part.

Sonnet Sequence (2): Wendy Webb's Brentor Sonnet

Brentor

A good example of this form can be found on p.14 of TIPS for Writers 77 (Wendy Webb Books 2010). The poem is called Icumen In, and is by Peter Davies. The original poem in this form is called The Brentor Sonnet, and is by Wendy Webb.

Brentor is a favourite hill of ours on Dartmoor, with a church dedicated to St Michael on the top.

New Forms (3): The Epulaeryu

Croeso! / Welcome!

Entrance to the Mumbles Pier in Swansea,
home town of Dylan Thomas

About the Epulaeryu form:

The word (and concept of) Epulaeryu is explained here. The form was invented by Joseph S. Spence, Sr.

My example:

Wilda Morris of the Illinois State Poetry Society in the USA informed me that one of my Epulaeryu poems, Seaweed from the Home of Dylan Thomas, was on display alongside other 'Food Poems' in the Lisle Public Library from 27 March 2010.

My poem is about laverbread, a local Swansea speciality. Its chief ingredient is seaweed (porphyra umbilcalis). It can be bought in Swansea market in small plastic bags. Many people like to fry it - sometimes with bacon - for breakfast. I have tasted it once so far, and would happily try it again.

• Form Summary on the Poetry Soup site (scroll down to Epulaeryu) 
• About the creator of the form (and here) - and a couple of his examples
• Apple crumble example by DreamOfOlwin
• Ziti pasta example by stonespell
• You might care to try a Double Reverse Epulaeryu

New Forms (2): The Hybridanelle

You can read about the Hybridanelle here in Volume II of Series III of Zahhar's pdf book, Cloudscapes in Passing. I have attempted a 'wave-on-the-page' version, laid out in a similar way to the poem, 'Stormlight' by Zahhar, the creator of the form. You will find 'Stormlight' on p.20 of the pdf book.

The form combines aspects of the Villanelle and the Terzanelle, as you will discover if you click the Hybridanelle link above.