Legerdemain

As whispered stories thoughts of wrath condemn, And peaceful tales repose their minds to sleep, The magic sparkles like sunlit gem, Amid the fire's rekindled embers leap...

Woman With a Book

In reflection she poses Like so many before Yet he speaks of roses As he begins to draw...

Safe in the Night

Around me the trees stand naked and bare And the ravens are cawing from up high Yet I want to be out in the trees there As the winter clouds gather in the sky....

Alternating Quatrain Notes

An Alternating Quatrain is a four-lined stanza with alternating rhyme. There are no other pre-set parameters allowing the use of such devices as meter and line length at the poet’s discretion Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef and so on Example Safe in the Night by Jez Farmer Around me the trees stand naked and bareAnd …

Coconut Bay

In sweetened shreds that hint of Shangri-La I see the sky entice the naughty sea and endless beaches acting so bourgeois, as Coconut Bay wakes a mind that’s free...

My Passion

There is a place I hide in pain Refuge for tears, a place to weep. Where words I read to sooth again In vintage odes my mind I steep...

Sicilian Quatrain Notes

Possibly the most popular quatrain from used within a sonnet since its first use in the 12th century by Giacomo da Lentini. However it is not purely for the use of the sonneteer, the Sicilian Quatrains is commonly used by story tellers and ballad writers. Traditionally written in 8 or 10 syllable lines, English poets …

Short Measure Notes

A variation of the Common Measure form, Short Measure consists of three lines of iambic trimeter, and a third line in iambic tetrameter. Including the rhyme scheme this gives the following patternxxxxxaxxxxxbxxxxxxxaxxxxxb Example Slainte by Gloria Carpenter To water down a drinkis sometimes a request;yet what a waste, I often thinkwhen strongest form is best. …

Demure

Sweet and sensual, yet so outwardly shy I cannot help but love you I do not ask why My heart beats as your eyes look at me...

We Don’t Need No Segregation!

Form: Quatrains The seats are full, the tension highA guitar string and I could flyI’m sat eager for the first beatFor the pulse of rock music’s heat That night the wall came down will stayIn our minds as Floyd start to playBerlin was one city once moreThe bass throb vibrates in the floor. Heroes of …

What is Rhyme?

Form: Quatrains The dictionary defines rhymeAs words sounding the same when said.It is not so easy this time.So get that thought out of my head. There are now many types to learnRhymes that are rich, or meet an eyeAs I study and candle burn,A poet, will that soon be I? Identical, true, assonant,Imperfect just like …

Before the Dawn

Form: Quatrains The world of stars I see,Above the Earth each night,Is where I find my dreams,Before the dawn’s daylight. The kiss of dew tastes sweet,The gift of nature’s rite,Awake the spites of life,Before the dawn’s daylight ©JGFarmer2009

July 8th

Form: Quatrains For July 8th I have just one wishTo spend an hour with Percy ByssheTo hear him speak and share a whileMaybe even see my hero smile. His works of beauty, I have them allWords from a romantic that often call.Magic images that release my mindSo much inspiration for a painter to find. Verses …

Long Measure Notes

A variation of Common Measure, Long Measure consists quatrains of iambic tetrameter lines with a rhyme pattern of abcb defe and so on, or abac dedf and so on. Example Beneath the Willow Tree by Jez Farmer My words are naught but summer rainwhen met with acrid clouds of doubt.Each time the hurt denies my …

Winter Conversation

While talking with December late one night A glass of whiskey in my hand I sure he smiled in the firelight...

Italian Quatrain Notes

An interesting form the Italian Quatrain is thought to have been created by Francesco Petrarch when he moved away from the Sicilian court. It is a building block for the Italian, Spanish, and French octaves. It is, however, a form in itself with the precedence of the meter, which consists of eight syllables, being set …

Heroic Stanza Notes

The Heroic Stanza is a popular quatrain used in ballades and storytelling. It consists of one unrhymed couplet and a rhymed couplet giving the poet some choice in rhyme pattern. Both couplets are decasyllabic or iambic pentameter.Possible rhyme schemas: abcb defe ghih and so onabbc deef ghhi and so onabac dedf ghgi and so onabca …

Goethe Stanza Notes

A rather different poetic form, especially for English language poets, is the Goethe Stanza. Each stanza comprises of a single line a couplet and another single line. The first single line rhymes with the second line of the couplet and the first line of the couplet rhymes with the second single line. There is no …

Hymn to the Gods

Forces of nature, hail to Thee, From here on bended knee. The Earth Mother graces us with life...

Nature’s Embrace

The sun setting on the horizon line, As damask streaks appear in the dusk sky. White crested the waves fall softly in line...

Day of Rest

My ideal as I rise early with the birds to most I suppose that is quite absurd. Coffee brewing, the aroma fills the room

Ballad Stanza Notes

The basic ballad stanza is made up of four lines. It has an alternating couplet at lines two and four. The lines also alternate between tetrameter and trimeter. This gives the following structure xxxxxxxaxxxxxbxxxxxxxcxxxxxb Example: The Little Boy Lost by William Blake "Father, father where are you going?Oh do not walk so fast!Speak, father, speak …

Ballad Notes

The long measure ballad is a variant of common measure. It consists of four-line stanzas, each line ideally being iambic tetrameter or eight-syllables in length.

Half Measure

Poetic Notes: Half Measure