tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73919442455035117792023-11-16T06:54:46.239-08:00 HOW TO WRITE POETRYWelcome. Here you will find out how to write poetry.Martin Stannardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829046311187324914noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7391944245503511779.post-85476991737200708772021-10-31T03:42:00.002-07:002021-10-31T03:47:21.062-07:00<p><span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span>#5 - HOW TO WRITE A PANTOUM</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9NJZYsM4Sxjt28f-4l3shm3IZdaOzkBfhjU7nRR5wBASzaDs_yCttULYoYXaBnVOw2vepKiD0cJLkf7d3fidr5obj-fu7nF2pl3nxI8AHAzBLbDNxDOkIayml8wy2hJdHKg0TTFG6gwd5leWh-YgEktn8aDIzz-oCVobdJJn3ZjHVDYlQQpG0osz7TA=s561" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="561" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9NJZYsM4Sxjt28f-4l3shm3IZdaOzkBfhjU7nRR5wBASzaDs_yCttULYoYXaBnVOw2vepKiD0cJLkf7d3fidr5obj-fu7nF2pl3nxI8AHAzBLbDNxDOkIayml8wy2hJdHKg0TTFG6gwd5leWh-YgEktn8aDIzz-oCVobdJJn3ZjHVDYlQQpG0osz7TA=w157-h122" width="157" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><span>1. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The pantoum is a bit like the villanelle (see Episode 2) insofar
as there are repeating lines throughout the poem. It's made up of a series of 4-line
stanzas (quatrains). The second and fourth lines of each stanza (verse) are
repeated as the first and third lines of the next one. It's kinda cute if you
like that sort of thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>2.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The pantoum can have as many stanzas as you want, so if you
like long poems you can chatter on for ages, but I hate long poems so I've
stuck to just 4 verses in the one I'm going to knock off here. The pattern outlined
in (1) above continues through until the last stanza, which is different: in that
one, the second line is the same as the third line of the first verse, and the
last line is the same as the first line of the first verse, so the poem ends up
back where it started, a situation that rather mirrors certain romantic
situations one may or may not encounter. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>3. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>In the best kind of pantoum the meaning of the repeated lines
changes a little bit when they're repeated although the words remain exactly
the same. You can do this by changing the punctuation, or with some word play,
or just using a different context. But this tweaking of meanings isn’t a
rigorous rule, and you don't have to do it. Also, it can be quite tricky and a
lot of work, so I haven't bothered in my pantoum. I'm so <s>lazy</s> carefree. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>4. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Strictly speaking and to be somewhat anal about it the
stanza in a pantoum should rhyme in the pattern ABAB but this is 2021 and we
are modern <s>(and lazy)</s> and we don’t rhyme unless someone is holding a gun
to our head. You could count syllables too, if you want to, but we don’t want
to. If it's good enough for <a href="https://ashberyhouse.yale.edu/pantoum" target="_blank">this chap</a> then it should be good enough for you (and me). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>5. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Apparently the 4-stanza pantoum is quite common, probably
because anything longer can be difficult to pull off, or just tedious, and
that's the one I'm going to do, like I said. So anyway, if we call the 1<sup>st</sup>
stanza lines ABCD, then stanza 2 is BEDF, stanza 3 is EGFH, and the last one
(the 4<sup>th</sup>) is GCHA. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>6. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>I should probably mention at this point that there are a
couple of variations available to all of this if you're interested. For
example, you can switch the order of the 2<sup>nd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup>
lines of the last stanza, or you could skip using lines from the first stanza
in the last one and use new lines instead, in which case you can ignore quite a
lot of what I said in section 2, and I'm falling asleep writing this but will
see it through to the end because I'm a professional (retired). I think these
variations make what's called the "imperfect pantoum", like Celia was
what you could call the "imperfect girlfriend". That's the thing with
these traditional forms: there's always some modern someone fiddling with them,
or "deconstructing" them. We yawn, and stick to the old ways, and we like
a girlfriend who acts like a girlfriend. They're the best kind. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>7. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>So anyway, here's my first stanza, with the ABCD thing
thrown in because this voluntary and largely-unread and unheralded venture is
all about helping you, the imaginary reader/student/would-be poet/idler (delete
as appropriate): </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These long winter nights, chill and lonely <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> A</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I endure, sans electric blanket, sans lady friend<span> <span> </span></span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>B<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>It would be nice to warmly cuddle and share a joke or two<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>C<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>My mind wanders, the wistful imaginings of a charming chap!<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>D<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>8. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Now for the 2<sup>nd</sup>. The pattern will be this:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I endure, sans electric blanket, sans lady friend <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>B</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>[new line]<span style="mso-tab-count: 8;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>E<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>My mind wanders, the wistful imaginings of a charming chap!<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>D<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>[new line]<span style="mso-tab-count: 8;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span></span></span>F<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>So here it is with my new lines put in:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I endure, sans electric blanket, sans lady friend <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> B</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These days I almost never think about Celia<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>E<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>My mind wanders, the wistful imaginings of a charming chap!<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>D <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Celia ain't the only night-time heating appliance in the
world<span> </span><span> </span>F<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>You can see how the pattern works. I hope so, anyway. I don’t
think I could make it any clearer.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p>9.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p> </o:p>Here's the 3<sup>rd</sup> verse, with new lines G and H
added in: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk84248442"><span><span> </span>These days I almost never think about
Celia<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>E<o:p></o:p></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk84248442;"><span><span> </span>I've been looking
online for a new and better lady friend<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>G<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk84248442;"></span>
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk84248486"><span><span> </span>Celia ain't the only night-time
heating appliance in the world<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>F<o:p></o:p></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk84248486;"><span><span> </span>Though a rental might
be inhibitive as regards expense<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>H<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk84248486;"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>10.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk84248486;"><o:p> A</o:p></span>nd now here's the
last stanza, with lines from the 1<sup>st</sup> stanza repeated:</span></p>
<span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk84248486;"></span>
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p> <span> </span></o:p>I've been looking online for a new and better lady friend <span> </span>G</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>It would be nice to warmly cuddle and share a joke or two<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>C<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Though a rental might be inhibitive as regards expense<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>H<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These long winter nights, chill and lonely<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> </span>A </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>And, as you can see, the poem ends up where it started,
which is fitting, kind of, since I'm absolutely back where I started before
Celia showed up. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>11. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>So that's the pantoum. Easy, wasn't it? It's a pity these
poetry forms don’t keep you warm on long and cold winter nights, but so it
goes. Here's the full thing without the distraction of the running alphabet:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These long winter nights, chill and lonely</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I endure, sans electric blanket, sans lady friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>It would be nice to warmly cuddle and share a joke or two<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>My mind wanders, the wistful imaginings of a charming chap!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I endure, sans electric blanket, sans lady friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These days I almost never think about Celia<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>My mind wanders, the wistful imaginings of a charming chap!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Celia ain't the only night-time heating appliance in the
world<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These days I almost never think about Celia<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I've been looking online for a new and better lady friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Celia ain't the only night-time heating appliance in the
world<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Though a rental might be inhibitive as regards expense<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I've been looking online for a new and better lady friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>It would be nice to warmly cuddle and share a joke or two<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Though a rental might be inhibitive as regards expense<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>These long winter nights, chill and lonely<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>12.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>That ain’t bad for half an hour on a chilly October
afternoon, even if I say so myself. I reckon if I tried really hard I could
write a good one – and so can you! It needs a title, of course. At the moment
my working title is "I'M THINKING OF BUYING AN ELECTRIC BLANKET".
I'll almost certainly come up with something better, but I <u>have</u> bought
an electric blanket, as it happens, a Silentnight<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">™</span>
"Comfort Control" which provides 3 levels of night-time bliss.
"Bliss" is maybe the wrong word.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>(This probably-never-to-be-used guide to the pantoum can be downloaded as a PDF <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/wyo116eszhymk53/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20POETRY%205.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></p><br /><p></p>Martin Stannardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829046311187324914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7391944245503511779.post-24018311991773728192021-10-01T01:19:00.000-07:002021-10-01T01:19:32.283-07:00<p><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><span style="color: #bf9000;"><b>#4 - HOW TO WRITE A SESTINA</b></span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwFgAZMuXr3zpGB9GRMYXZBhPuYKEltvu5CRzDiMbSBsGA0y7zRp95SkXkKciNOD-6dfWbXHi2_wvPdfaZrdc6Dv_XpRKHijjGrtEfTyGk62xxpMc29XOU2_1WChj99JG5GB2EMo8GeW5zr8_CBpnal6sqpLV846jDJlcTrz0hQJ1uTMWuEwYoEfxvzw=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwFgAZMuXr3zpGB9GRMYXZBhPuYKEltvu5CRzDiMbSBsGA0y7zRp95SkXkKciNOD-6dfWbXHi2_wvPdfaZrdc6Dv_XpRKHijjGrtEfTyGk62xxpMc29XOU2_1WChj99JG5GB2EMo8GeW5zr8_CBpnal6sqpLV846jDJlcTrz0hQJ1uTMWuEwYoEfxvzw=w153-h152" width="153" /></a></p><p><span style="color: #bf9000;">1.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Hold on to your hats! The sestina is a bit long – it’s got 6
stanzas (verses) of 6 lines each, plus a final verse (stanza) of 3 lines. That
makes a grand total of 39 lines</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">. </span><span style="color: #bf9000;">Crikey</span><span style="color: red;">!</span> <span style="color: #bf9000;">On top
of that, instead of rhyme or iambic feet or stuff like that, it uses what’s
called “lexical repetition”, which is a fancy way of saying “repeating words”. It’s
going to take a while to explain the sestina’s basic structure, so you might
want to fix yourself a stiff drink.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">2.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">While there’s no rhyme, you can use syllable counting and
that kind of nonsense if you want, but you don’t have to. In fact, you can use
any length of line, and even mix long and short and in-between if you feel like
it. Of course, if you fancy a bit of iambic pentameter no-one will stop you,
but the lexical repetition is probably tough enough, as we shall see. It’s up
to you. I’m not your Mum or Dad or Social Worker.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">3. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">So, what about this lexical repetition thingy? What it means
in the sestina is that you choose 6 “end words” (words at the end of a line)
and the lines of the first 6 stanzas have to end with those words in a pattern decided
on ages ago by the United Sestina Association (USA for short). Let’s deal with
the pattern; please move on to the next section. You can have a rest for a couple
of minutes first if you feel the need. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">4. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">The pattern the line-ending words follow can be explained thusly:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the first stanza will have 6 lines and 6
end-words. The following stanzas take their pattern based on a bottom-up
pairing of the lines of the preceding stanza (i.e. last and first, then
second-from-last and second, then third-from-last and third). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I copied that from somewhere and I don’t really get it. It’s
about as easy to understand as string theory, so I’ll try to make it as simple
as I can. If the first stanza lines are 1-2-3-4-5-6, the second stanza uses the
end words in the order 6-1-5-2-4-3, the third is 3-6-4-1-2-5, the fourth 5-3-2-6-1-4,
the fifth 4-5-1-3-6-2, and the sixth 2-4-6-5-3-1. This might make more sense
when we use words instead of numbers. Unfortunately, using words can be quite
tricky, as we shall see. Some people have written poems using just numbers but that’s
avant-garde. Let’s push on. It’s taking ages to get to some actual poem . . .</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">5. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">The sixth stanza is followed by a tercet (a 3-line stanza
(verse)) that includes all six of the line-ending words of the preceding
stanzas, with two of the words in each line. Strictly speaking, these should
take the pattern of 2–5, 4–3, 6–1; the first end-word of each pair can occur
anywhere in the line, while the second must end the line. However, this order
can be changed if you want to and, believe me, you might want to! But you do
have to have the second word at the end of the line; it’s a rule you’re not
really allowed to break unless you see yourself as some kind of poetry maverick. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">6. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Like I said, this pattern will become clearer when we use
words, but there’s the rub. You might think choosing 6 words ain’t so difficult,
but you’d be wrong, oh so wrong. Repeating a word a couple of times might be easy
enough, but in the sestina you have to repeat 6 words 7 times, and when you try
to do it you will soon find it ain’t so easy, assuming you want to make some
kind of sense or not just keep repeating yourself. If making sense doesn’t
matter and you see yourself as the next J. H. Prynne (look him up) it’d be a
piece of cake, but let’s assume you do want to make sense. If you don’t, we
might as well go home now. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">So let’s choose some words. How about these: </span><span style="color: red;">Celia, gone, heart, left, broken, selfish</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">. All these
are words I could use in a poem telling how I gave Celia my heart and she left
me and broke it, but if I use the name Celia seven times in my sestina it could
get tedious as hell, and there’s only one way I can think of using the words
“heart” and “gone”. The same goes for “selfish”. I might get away with using
these words for two or three stanzas, but by the time verses five and six
arrived I’m pretty sure I’d be struggling and saying the same thing over and
over again, which is what Celia did when she moaned about almost everything, but
it’s not what you want in a poem. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">That’s one of the real pains about writing a sestina: you
choose your 6 words, you get halfway through the poem and it’s all going jolly
well, then you realize you can’t think of a different way to use the words
again, and you wish you had some better ones to play with. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Frankly, the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>words I
just chose feel kind of limiting even before I begin writing the poem, even if
calling Celia selfish a thousand times wouldn’t be enough in real life. But
this is poetry and not real life, so instead I need to find some words to use
in the sestina that can either be used in more than one way, or that can be
used in more than one context, which will give me the chance to use the same
word but with a slightly different sense or meaning. And, of course, some words
can function as a noun with more than one meaning, and also as maybe a verb
e.g. “bitch” is a noun, and “to bitch” is a verb. On the other hand, you might
be lucky and find words you can use which always have exactly the same use and
meaning and everything goes swimmingly, in which case you’ve hit a kind of
sestina jackpot and you can forget most of what I just said, at least for now. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">7. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red;">I have a handy hint. Until you
get the hang of it, you could try borrowing the end words of a sestina someone
else has already written. In that case, you start off knowing they can “work” –
if someone else used them and pulled it off, then so can you. Like I said just
a few moments ago, there’s nothing worse than getting half the way through your
sestina and realizing you’ve set yourself an impossible task by choosing your
end-words badly. Even one wrong and badly-chosen word can fuck the whole thing
up, pardon my French. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">8.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Anyway, I’ve nicked some new end words from someone else,
and for my sestina I’ve decided to summarize the story of yours truly and
Celia. Here is my first stanza, which in good narrative style sets the scene: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span></span>Celia and I met
on a day of storm. Thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span></span>was in the air. I
had just moved in to my apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>in the city,
newly arrived back in the country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>and very
miserable. What had been my pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>life had become
the opposite. I scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span></span>around in
metaphorical dirt and lived on spinach. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">9. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">You might think the end-words here are not very promising
because at least four of them seem pretty much to have only one way of being
used. For example, I wish “to spinach” was a verb, but it isn’t. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you’ll see how in this case it’s not a
problem if you’re imaginative and inventive. It helps, when you write poetry,
to be imaginative and inventive. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that before. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">10. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Here’s my second stanza: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span></span>Oddly, I really
rather enjoyed living on spinach;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>Celia said she
didn’t like it, nor did she like thunder,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>but it was like
we each had an itch and we scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>one another. She
came back with me to my apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span> </span>after we had hit
it off drunkenly during a very pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span> </span></span>party at a mutual
friend’s place in the country. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">You can see how it works. The word “scratched” is used in a
different context from in the first stanza, and “country” in the first stanza
meant England, whereas in the second stanza it means the countryside.
Imaginative. Inventive. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">11. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Here’s my next bit: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I didn’t feel much at home back
in this country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and probably, indisputably, ate
way too much spinach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia said she liked everything
to be pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">about her, saying again how she
disliked thunder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Before too long she was living
with me in the apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and our itches no longer needed
to be scratched. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">The poem’s going well. And all of the end words are being
used pretty straightforwardly. I might have struck sestina gold! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">12. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">On to the next bit: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Itches are not the only things
can be scratched.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I’d always had an inexplicable
soft spot for country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">music, and I spent loads of time
in the apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">playing it loud while pigging out
on spinach<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">sandwiches and beer. I didn’t
notice a local thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">brewing, and how Celia was not
always so pleasant. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Do you see how clever I’ve been with “country”? Imaginative.
Inventive. I really cannot stress that enough. And the discerning among you
will see that some of the other words are used in a slightly different context,
and everything is hunky dory. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">13. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Frankly, I’m getting a bit bored now and want to finish this
so here are the next two chunks: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">When I say Celia was not always
pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I mean she deliberately and
wantonly scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">my records. She said she really
didn’t like thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">but it was a zillion times better
than country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">music. Hearing that, I almost
choked on my spinach,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">telling her it was me who chose
the music in my apartment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I also very much like Phil
Collins, and the apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">often reverberated to the
beat’n’bounce of his pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">ditties while I munched on more
and more spinach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia liked him too. His records
weren’t scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">but anything she regarded as
remotely country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">she had it in for. The atmosphere
indoors was like thunder. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I’m thinking I should’ve used more difficult end words to
show you how tricky things can be, or how you can use some words in more different
ways than is happening here, but what the hell. Nobody asked me to do this.
It’s all voluntary. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">14. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Now we come to the final verse/stanza/tercet, where you have
to use the end words like I explained earlier up there somewhere. Here it
comes: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia left me and the </span><span style="color: red;">apartment</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">, taking her dislike of </span><span style="color: red;">thunder</span><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and my “The Best of Phil Collins”
CD. I’ve overdosed on </span><span style="color: red;">spinach</span><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"> and </span><span style="color: red;">scratched</span><span style="color: #bf9000;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">till my heart bled. It’s not </span><span style="color: red;">pleasant</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">. I might leave the </span><span style="color: red;">country</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">You can see (a) I’ve put the end words in </span><span style="color: red;">red </span><span style="color: #bf9000;">so you can see them, and (b) I didn’t stick to the
strict word order for the same reason as in (c) thank Christ you’re allowed to
use any length of line you want. These lines are quite long and it took me at
least five minutes to figure out how to use the words, and long lines made it
way easier than it would’ve been if I’d had to stick to shorter lines. Whew!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">15. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I’m knackered. I’m not sure I want to do this any more. Writing
the actual sestina only took me about half an hour, but explaining how to do it
has taken longer than I expected, and I’ve missed the start of the football on the
telly. Anyway, here’s the whole poem: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia and I met on a day of
storm. Thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">was in the air. I had just moved
in to my apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">in the city, newly arrived back
in the country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and very miserable. What had been
my pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">life had become the opposite. I
scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">around in metaphorical dirt and
lived on spinach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Oddly, I really rather enjoyed
living on spinach;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia said she didn’t like it,
nor did she like thunder,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">but it was like we each had an
itch and we scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">one another. She came back with
me to my apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">after we had hit it off drunkenly
during a very pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">party at a mutual friend’s place
in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I didn’t feel much at home back
in this country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and probably, indisputably, ate
way too much spinach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia said she liked everything
to be pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">about her, saying again how she
disliked thunder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Before too long she was living
with me in the apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and our itches no longer needed
to be scratched.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Itches are not the only things
can be scratched.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I’d always had an inexplicable
soft spot for country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">music, and I spent loads of time
in the apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">playing it loud while pigging out
on spinach<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">sandwiches and beer. I didn’t
notice a local thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">brewing, and how Celia was not
always so pleasant.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">When I say Celia was not always
pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I mean she deliberately and
wantonly scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">my records. She said she really
didn’t like thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">but it was a zillion times better
than country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">music. Hearing that, I almost
choked on my spinach,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">telling her it was me who chose
the music in my apartment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I also very much like Phil
Collins, and the apartment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">often reverberated to the
beat’n’bounce of his pleasant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">ditties while I munched on more
and more spinach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia liked him too. His records
weren’t scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">but anything she regarded as
remotely country<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">she had it in for. The atmosphere
indoors was like thunder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Celia left me and the apartment,
taking her dislike of thunder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">and my “The Best of Phil Collins”
CD. I’ve overdosed on spinach<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>and
scratched<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">till my heart bled. It’s not
pleasant. I might leave the country. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">16. It’s not a great sestina, to be honest, but it’ll do. It
needs a title. I’m pretty good when it comes to thinking up titles, and I’m probably
going to call this one “THE WASTE LAND”. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">17. I’m sorry this took so long, but it’s 39 lines! I’m
going to do something short next time, if there <u>is</u> a next time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #bf9000;">(This very useful guide to the sestina can be downloaded as a PDF <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/u5jsh4f7cuyutiv/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20POETRY%204.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></p>Martin Stannardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829046311187324914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7391944245503511779.post-91097283400691946972021-09-01T02:05:00.001-07:002021-09-29T07:53:56.048-07:00<p><b><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">#3 - HOW TO WRITE A TRIOLET</span></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzlPWndkq63N7U7Ko9KZd3kikJvJ1s5tO8Sje7dqhhXuDyOrqlmbaWcTNeooxS6EbGfhOnotbd3PqZs9no0O_V6N2B8FLjy3rGSeAT8cAKlXhyctdfANsIyDquDJAKLke3k_cNUD7KaPX/s600/-girl-and-boy2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="600" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzlPWndkq63N7U7Ko9KZd3kikJvJ1s5tO8Sje7dqhhXuDyOrqlmbaWcTNeooxS6EbGfhOnotbd3PqZs9no0O_V6N2B8FLjy3rGSeAT8cAKlXhyctdfANsIyDquDJAKLke3k_cNUD7KaPX/w178-h153/-girl-and-boy2.png" width="178" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1.</span><p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">If you’ve been following this series you’ll know that last
time I mentioned how some people think villanelles are difficult, but we saw how
they’re not. Those same people probably think the triolet is difficult too.
Frankly, I don’t know if anyone much writes triolets these days. (Oh! That
rhymes!) To be honest, I’ve never written one before, but how hard can it be?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">But if nobody writes them now it doesn’t really matter
because if that’s the case you could start a new trend or create a niche (i.e.
almost non-existent) market, which might be the first step to poetry success
and - who knows? - even becoming the Poet Laureate in the future. They don’t set the
bar very high for that nowadays, so you could maybe take a shot.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The triolet only has 8 lines, which is nice’n’short. The
first, fourth and seventh lines are the same, as are the second and final
lines, which makes the first and last couplets (pairs of lines) the same as
well. All of which means you don’t have to think up many lines, although that
means the ones you do think up and repeat, like in the villanelle, have to be
pretty damn good, and worth repeating. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The down sides of the triolet are two: (1) there should be
rhyme, and (2) you have to think about iambic feet and syllables. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">3. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">As far as the rhyme is concerned, the pattern is ABaAabAB; the
capital letters represent the repeated lines i.e. the repeated first, fourth
and seventh lines rhyme with lines three and five, and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>….. well, I’m sure you get the drift. If not,
it’ll become clear as we go on. Imagine an early morning, and the meadowy landscape
is beautifully blurred by a picturesque mist, Celia is dancing ballerina-like
across the greensward, her fairy feet dampened by the dew, then the sun shines more
strongly, the mist disperses, and everything becomes crystal, which is when you
remember Celia is gone. I’m not saying this will be like that, but imagine it
anyway. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Actually, in history there are a couple of other rules about
the rhyme in a triolet depending on which country’s version of the triolet you
look at, but I’m giving you a kind of bog-standard modern English version here,
mainly because those other rules just complicate matters, and life’s complicated
enough already.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">4. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The lines in the triolet should be what is called iambic</span><span style="color: red;">*</span><span><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">tetrameter, which is basically 8 syllables,
going “dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM”. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red;"><span>*</span> <span>Some people have dared to suggest that my iambic feet are sometimes
not as iambic as they should be. Those people are wrong. When reading poetry
such as a sonnet or a triolet just make sure you really go for the “dee
DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM” thing, and get that bouncy rhythm going, then it
will be alright. You have to bounce a bit sometimes, otherwise what’s the
point? Also, needless to say, I don’t spend loads of time on this stuff, and
you get what you pay for.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: red;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">5. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">So anyway, we need two lines that will bear repeating, and
mine are </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She WON’T give ME
her NEW addRESS. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">and </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her HEART is HARD.
Her HEART is STONE. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The bits in capital letters are, of course, the “DUM” of the
iambic “dee DUM”. (I’m not going to do that capital letter thing again for the
other lines, it would get a bit tedious.) And yes, I do seem to be writing a
lot of poems about Celia at the moment. I’m not sure she deserves it, but the
poet writes what the poet has to write, apparently. I heard someone say that on
the wireless.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">6. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">If we now think about the line pattern of the triolet, and
the way two lines are repeated, we are faced with this: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She won’t give me
her new address.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> Her heart is
hard. Her heart is stone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(new line needed,
rhyming with “address”)<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She won’t give me
her new address.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(new line needed,
rhyming with “address”)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(new line needed,
rhyming with “stone”)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She won’t give me
her new address.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her heart is
hard. Her heart is stone. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">So you can see we only have to find three new lines to fill
in the gaps, and a bit of rhyme, and we’re done! Easy-peasy!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">7. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Here is my completed triolet, with my three new lines: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a name="_Hlk79502127"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></a><a name="_Hlk78208502"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;">She won’t give me her
new address</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;">.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her heart is hard. Her heart is
stone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In truth I could not care much less.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She won’t give me her new address,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And here’s the thing I need to stress:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’m glad that bitch, that bird has flown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>She won’t give me her new address.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her heart is hard. Her heart is stone.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">That was actually a
piece of cake, and not terrifically challenging, so you should also find it’s
pretty easy. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep that “bitch” in line 6; I might
change it to something else. “Bitch” is a word that might upset some people,
but upsetting people is a big part of what art is about, so it’s probably worth
keeping. Whatever. There’s loads of one-syllable words I could use to describe
Celia, so I’ll have a think, but “bitch” and “bird” both start with a B, so it
sounds good. Anyway, like I said, this triolet wasn’t very challenging. It took
me longer to do the Cryptic Crossword in today’s newspaper, which was a bit of
a bugger. I got stuck on several clues, including 4 Down: “Alice is a confused girl.
(5 letters).”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><o:p><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;">8.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">As usual, we round
off things by thinking up a decent title. I’m calling this one “OF CELIA,
WHERE’ER SHE MAY BE”. I think the old-fashioned poetic-sounding contraction of
“Wherever” to “Where’er” is a nice touch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><o:p><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">(This handy guide to the triolet can be downloaded as a PDF <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/y4oep3fe6tf0rhb/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20POETRY%203.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6; mso-bookmark: _Hlk79502127;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<br /><br /><p></p>Martin Stannardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829046311187324914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7391944245503511779.post-31030257029126205772021-07-29T06:51:00.004-07:002021-08-01T01:32:25.722-07:00<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">#2 - HOW TO WRITE A VILLANELLE</span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur9uJ2SCFlqWrTdTFhhoOfMHJiuTw-RG5RxNbbx1b7wC_bX9OWpsmCvHHQaEB-AJPURt9t2YfoK2EwIbdfy1bLFV0viptV7UeoPs-CjI0G7KzIn-M8pbRTeB5WmutUhavw2_10XhRsvUQ/s483/Picture1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="483" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur9uJ2SCFlqWrTdTFhhoOfMHJiuTw-RG5RxNbbx1b7wC_bX9OWpsmCvHHQaEB-AJPURt9t2YfoK2EwIbdfy1bLFV0viptV7UeoPs-CjI0G7KzIn-M8pbRTeB5WmutUhavw2_10XhRsvUQ/w202-h123/Picture1.png" width="202" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">1.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p> </o:p>A lot of poets say that the villanelle is really difficult
to write, but it isn’t.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">It is also a very useful kind of poem when you have a couple
of things you want to say more than once or, to be exact, four times, although
you can say some things to some people an infinite number of times and they
won’t take it in. (I am thinking of you as I write this, Celia.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">2. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">The villanelle has five stanzas (or verses) of three lines
(what poets call tercets when they want to sound clever) followed by a single
stanza of four lines (which is a quatrain). It comes to a grand total of 19
lines.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">I realise some of you may think 19 lines is a bit long, but
it's actually not because, if you think about it, 2 of the lines are each used
4 times, so in effect you get 8 lines for the price of 2 (it’s like being in a
poetry supermarket!) and actually there are only 13 “new” lines, one fewer than
in the sonnet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">The lines you repeat are used in a set pattern: the first
line of the first stanza is used as the last line of the second and fourth
stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza is used as the last line of the
third and fifth stanzas. The last stanza ends with the two repeated lines. This
sounds a bit complicated but you will get the picture as we go along. Come,
take my imaginary hand.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">3. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">The first thing you need to do (it might be the second thing
if you have a stiff drink at your elbow) is figure out the couple of things you
want to say more than once, and then say them. Another one of the good things
about the villanelle is that you don’t have to count syllables or worry about
iambic or any other kind of feet or that sort of stuff, unlike in the sonnet.
You can if you want to, but you don’t have to. Some people count syllables in
their sleep, but that’s quite sad, and it’s also a recognised medical
condition. I think you can get treatment for it on the NHS if you’re a UK
resident.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">Anyway, the two things I’m itching to say, and which will be
the lines I repeat, are</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">and </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of
Phil Collins” CD you have is mine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">So these will be the first and third lines of my first “tercet”,
and the observant among you will have already noted that they rhyme.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">4.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">To make the tercet (or stanza, or verse) I need a third line
to stick in between those two, and I have one, and so this is my first tercet:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p> </o:p> Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span> </span><span> </span>And I have something
else I want to say:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of
Phil Collins” CD you have is mine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">5.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">In the second stanza (I’m not going to call it a tercet any
more; it’s too poncy) the last (or third) line is the same as the first line of
the first one, and the first line of this stanza has to rhyme with the first
line of the first one and the third line of this one i.e. with both, because
they are the same. The second line of this one, between the first and the
third, has to rhyme with the second line of the first stanza. Clear as mud,
huh? Think of the pattern like this:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p> </o:p> (line ending in
the “ine” sound)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(line ending in
the “ay” sound)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">Finding rhymes is sometimes tricky but it’s not that tricky,
and here is what I did: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have not
slumped into a terminal decline<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Celia, I welcome
each new sunshiny day.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">6.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">In the third stanza, the last line has to be the same as the
last line of the first one, and of course the first line of this one has to
rhyme with that one, and the second line has to rhyme with the second line of
the previous ones. Whew! By the way, I know I’ve been saying “one” a lot, and I
should maybe rewrite it a bit, but I won’t. Anyway, it’s like this:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p> </o:p> (line ending in
the “ine” sound)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(line ending in
the “ay” sound)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of
Phil Collins” CD is mine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">Here it is with all the words put in:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> It may be that
you think I have no spine</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But you’re wrong,
and the truth is here to stay:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of Phil
Collins” CD you have is mine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">The sharp-eyed reader will have seen there’s no rule against
slightly ‘tweaking’ your repeated lines if you want to. The poetry police will
not come and punish you, and a little bit of tweaking shows you are not one of
those people who stick so rigidly to the rules as to be dull and boring.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">7. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">You might think this is getting tedious now, because we
still have about half the poem to go, but stick with it. Success in the world
of poetry is not just about sucking up to people with influence. Sometimes you
have to do a bit of hard work, albeit it’s not what most people with real jobs
would call hard work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">So, here comes the fourth stanza, which will be in this
pattern, with the last line being the one we kicked off with ten minutes ago: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(line ending in
the “ine” sound)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(line ending in
the “ay” sound)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">And here it is, with the words: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Celia, I have
never been the sort to whine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And this is what
I simply have to convey:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">I think by now you will have got the drift. Like I said, the
villanelle is a good form because you can say things more than once and in that
way Celia will have no excuse for not getting the message (if she reads the
poem). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">8. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">We have one more 3-line stanza to go. Here is the pattern,
with the last line being the same (give or take) as the last line of the one we started with: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(line ending in
the “ine” sound)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(line ending in
the “ay” sound)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of
Phil Collins” CD is mine. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">And so, filled in, we get: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I crack open
another bottle of wine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The absence of
that record causes me dismay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Celia, that “Best
of Phil Collins” CD is mine. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">As you can see, this is the third time we have reminded
Celia about the CD. It’s a really good record and captures Phil at his best, as
it says in the title, and I want it back. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">9. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">You will be pleased to know we have now finished with the
3-line stanzas and it’s time to round off the whole thing with the 4 line
“quatrain”, the last two lines of which will be the lines we have been
repeating. Here is mine: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is not in my
nature to weakly repine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And every day I
go out with my friends to play.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely bloody fine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Celia, that
“Best of Phil Collins” CD is mine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">10. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">And here is the finished villanelle:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And I have
something else I want to say:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of
Phil Collins” CD you have is mine.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have not
slumped into a terminal decline<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Celia, I
welcome each new sunshiny day.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It may be that
you think I have no spine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But you’re wrong,
and the truth is here to stay:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That “Best of
Phil Collins” CD you have is mine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Celia, I have
never been the sort to whine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And this is what
I simply have to convey:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I crack open
another bottle of wine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The absence of
that record causes me dismay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Celia, that “Best
of Phil Collins” CD is mine.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is not in my
nature to weakly repine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And every day I
go out with my friends to play.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since you left
I’ve been absolutely bloody fine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And Celia, that
“Best of Phil Collins” CD is mine.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">As you can see, it’s pretty good, and only took about a
quarter of an hour to put together, which proves that the villanelle is not as
difficult as some people make out, as mentioned earlier. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">11. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">Of course, you have finally to choose a title. To be honest,
sometimes it takes me longer to think up a good title than it does to write the
poem. My tentative title for this one is “TO CELIA, PRINCESS OF THIEVES”. I
might change it. I’m not keen on that “Princess” bit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: georgia;">(This extremely useful guide to the villanelle can be downloaded as a PDF <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/meohcdudqm9vu5j/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20POETRY%202.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></p>Martin Stannardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829046311187324914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7391944245503511779.post-27589085885806118712021-07-24T06:45:00.018-07:002021-08-01T01:31:13.880-07:00<div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><b>#1 - </b><b style="text-align: center;">HOW TO WRITE A SONNET</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><b style="text-align: center;"><br /></b></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwlV0YmTbjM4JlUwfXSbhDJZPbI5q4_ZbRQdwyVvuEKBuMwJv-GWAViMtaMi6erglUZ2bQr6QQCxHLZLkukEfq0EULvDuueTHkO_0oXLCYQDK6LvnaDz4qSAAbIDYN4FojfJT65ZIhemB/s800/students-boy-girl-writing-schoolwork-two-kids-classroom-talk-156479002.jpg" style="font-family: georgia; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwlV0YmTbjM4JlUwfXSbhDJZPbI5q4_ZbRQdwyVvuEKBuMwJv-GWAViMtaMi6erglUZ2bQr6QQCxHLZLkukEfq0EULvDuueTHkO_0oXLCYQDK6LvnaDz4qSAAbIDYN4FojfJT65ZIhemB/w108-h108/students-boy-girl-writing-schoolwork-two-kids-classroom-talk-156479002.jpg" width="108" /></a></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">1. Learn how to count up to 14. This is because the sonnet has
14 lines, not one more or one less.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">2.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">You need a good first line, something like </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, since I
have been living </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">which you will see is in iambic pentameter, which is like
“dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM dee DUM”. (You might think “Celia” isn’t said
like that, but this is poetry and not the real world.) Of course, the line
needs to be good and interesting like this one, and followed by a second of
equal quality, like this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Alone inside this
giant portmanteau </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">3. Having got off to a good start you have to decide on the
type of sonnet you want to write, because there are a few to choose from. It
would probably be a good idea to decide this before you begin. I suggest you go
for the Shakespearean rather than any other kind, because it’s English and
therefore patriotic. In the Shakespearean sonnet, the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD
EFEF GG. This means the last word (A) of your 3<sup>rd</sup> line has to rhyme
with the last word (A)of your 1<sup>st</sup> line, and the last word (B)of your
4<sup>th</sup> line has to rhyme with the last word (B) of your 2<sup>nd</sup>
line, then on the 5<sup>th</sup> line (C) you start using a new sound, and then
it goes on from there until the end. I’m sure you can work it out, because it’s
not brain science, and it’s far too tedious to spell it out any further. You
are not children (unless, of course, you <u>are</u> children). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">So, in the sonnet I am writing here as an example, the 3<sup>rd</sup>
line has to end in a word that rhymes with “living”, which is easy, because
there are literally zillions of words that end in “ing”, and the 4<sup>th</sup>
line has to rhyme with “portmanteau”, which at first sight seems a bit more
difficult but it’s not as bad as you might think. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, since I
have been living<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Alone inside this
giant portmanteau<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> I think of all
the songs you used to sing<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> And why the hell
you left me I don’t know</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">4. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">If you are not happy with what you have written so far you
can always throw out all or some of it and have another go: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> <a name="_Hlk75868611">O Celia, since I have been living<o:p></o:p></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Alone inside this giant portmanteau<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O how your worth and manners may I sing <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> I wish that we could have another go </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">You just have to keep trying to think up stuff until you get
it right. You can steal a line from someone else’s sonnet if you want to; it’s
very unlikely anyone will notice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">5. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">The first 8 lines of your sonnet should be like a kind of
setting out of a situation, or explaining a problem, and then the last 6 lines
are supposed to be a response to that situation, or an answer to the problem,
or whatever. So here are my first 8 lines, which I just now knocked up very
quickly: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, since I
have been living<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Alone inside this
giant portmanteau<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O how your worth
and manners may I sing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> I wish that we
could have another go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Inside this bag
I’ve had some time to think<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Of how you might
have got the wrong idea<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> About my use of
drugs and what I drink.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, to me
you are so dear. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">So, with Celia having left me because she has
misinterpreted, not for the first time, what she sees as my life choices and
behaviour, and me being stuck living alone inside a bag, not for the first
time, how do I propose to resolve the situation in the remaining 6 lines?
Please proceed to the next section.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">6. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">Do not expect writing a sonnet to be easy. If writing a
sonnet was easy everybody would be doing it. Also, I have no idea where Celia
is, she’s probably gone back and shacked up again with Sebastian, and she may
never read the poem, but do not allow the absence of audience to put you off,
and do not listen to those who tell you this is an outmoded way of writing. The
world is full of know-it-alls. So, I resolve the situation as set out in the
first 8 lines with the next 6 lines thus: </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> <a name="_Hlk75871433">My therapist says I’m doing OK<o:p></o:p></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> And in six months I should be clean and
dry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> He says I’m getting better by the day<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> And now I think it’s up to you to try,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, to show some love and care.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> You should be here and certainly not
there. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">7. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">So, as you can see, we now have a complete sonnet, thus: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, since I
have been living<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Alone inside this
giant portmanteau<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O how your worth
and manners may I sing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> I wish that we
could have another go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Inside this bag
I’ve had some time to think<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> Of how you might
have got the wrong idea<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> About my use of
drugs and what I drink.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, to me
you are so dear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> My therapist says
I’m doing OK<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> And in six months
I should be clean and dry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> He says I’m
getting better by the day,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> And now I think
it’s up to you to try,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> O Celia, to show
some love and care:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> You should be
here and certainly not there. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">The accomplished sonnet, as you will note from this example,
is tightly-structured and well-organized thematically. You may find your first
sonnets are not much good, but don’t give up until it becomes blindingly obvious
you are not cut out for this kind of writing. There are lots of other things
you can do, probably.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">8. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">Finally, you need to give your sonnet a suitable title. I
have called this one “CELIA, YOU HEARTLESS BITCH”, although I am thinking of
changing it to “FOR CELIA, THE ABSENT ANGEL”. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: georgia;">(This very helpful article is available as a PDF <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3i654b17d2gzif/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20POETRY%201.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></p></div>Martin Stannardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829046311187324914noreply@blogger.com