Keat's Sonnet - To Let Go

This is a interesting variation to the English Sonnet form. Here the meter is not specified and different types of feet other than Iambic are permitted, such as: Trochee, Spondee and Pyrrhic. The rhyme scheme is .a.b.c. ..a.b.d...c.a.b. ..c.d.e. ..d.e..

"To Let Go"

Your hands in mine were once so small
Soft and round, gripping on tightly
Barely fitting round my finger

Your pretty name I used to call
Like a waking dreamer, whisper so lightly
Long before you even became you

In my arms you used to linger
Peeping out from my shelter tall
I was your protector so knightly

Yet, now your hand hold all my fingers
You hold on to it tight and true
Yet, I know soon you will let go

I want to hold on to you
Yet, I know soon you will let go

Katuata - A Soul's Dream

This form of Japanese poetry originally consisted of a poem consisting of 19 syllables or onji, . There was a break after the fifth and twelfth onji and this would give us a form structure of. 5 - 7 – 7. Later poets also wrote using only 17 onji and this gave a form structure of 5 - 7 – 5.


“A Soul's Dream”

In my sleep, my soul
does raise from my body and
Runs and wanders the world, free.

Italian Sonnet - Judgment Day

Also know as the Petrarchan sonnet, it is the oldest known form of sonnet. Originally, it had no set structure and it was only after its adoption by the English that defined the Italian sonnet to consist of an octave, which set up a situation, followed by a sestet, which sets up a counter statement. It was only much later that Wyatt and Spencer formalized it by the use of Iambic Pentameter. The octave is in the form:a.b.b.a.a.b.b.a. and the sestet can be: c.d.c.d.c.d., c.d.e.c.d.e., c.d.c.c.d.c.

"Judgment Day"

My days are counting down till the one of
judgment. When my life will be tested on
All acts I have done before I am gone
And leave the happy world of light and love
Flutter aways with wind on wings like dove
Stretch out grand wings and neck like graceful swan
Rise up to the sun on lovely, bright dawn
Forgive myself and leap off with a shove
Here my Heaven, my Paradise
Judge me now, free and open upon clouds
Test me now, unbias, and meet my eyes
For here I stand beyond the shuffling crowds
Not longer held back by fearful, sad cries
I go to you now, my eternal prize

Italian Sestet - Hilltop Awakening

The original Italian sestet had no meter, yet when Spenser introduced it to England, the poets tended to use iambic tetrameter or pentameter. The rhyme scheme would be as followed: a.b.c.a.b.c.


“Hilltop Awakening”

On top of hilltop, I look down
to land below and gaze upon
Such treasures that would stir the soul
To point of rejoicing renown
As flowers for the sun at dawn
I rise up like a newborn foul

Italian Octave - Picture Paradise

This octave is made up by two Italian Quatrains. Originally it had no meter, but pentameter has been preferred by most poets. The rhyme scheme is: a.b.b.a.a.b.b.a


“Picture Paradise”

` I close my eyes and picture paradise:
Warm, sandy beaches, tall palm trees
With trunks dancing so happily in breeze .
Soft surf lapping at my feet as loud cries
of seagulls calling out their dear good byes,
The soft music of the wind in the leaves
That rustles and prances only to please
Ah yes! That is where my paradise lies

Huitain - Distance Rejected

This is a very old form of verse from France. It consists of one eight line stanza with eight syllables. The English adapted it into an iambic pentameter, however the old eight syllable is still preferred by purists. It is form by three rhymes such as the structure would appear as such: a.b.a.b.b.c.b.c.


“Distance Rejected”

Unfeeling Distance, how could you
Bid me to come away and stray
Such a love as mine, how could you
Call my heart and cause such dismay
To one who loves me more each day
I hear the road calling loud, clear
Yet, I withstand it and so pray
Distance ne'er part our love, my dear

Half Measure - A Request of Time

This is a simple variation of common measure and there are two choices. The first is in iambic trimeter with two rhymes and the second consists of three rhymes. The lay out is as followed:

xxxxxa
xxxxxb
xxxxxa
xxxxxb

or

xxxxxa
xxxxxb
xxxxxc
xxxxxb

“A Request of Time”

Time, can’t you slow and waste
A while with me. Calm your
Ticking. Why so fast paced?
Such running be a chore.

Haiku - Reunion

This is a traditional brief verse from Japan consisting of 17n moras or syllables. There is no rhyme scheme. It consists of three phases of 5,7, and 5 syllables respectively.

“Reunion”

Sweetest songs ring out
Upon our grand reunion
My soul rejoices

Goethe Stanza - "The Bronte Sisters"

This is a very different style of poetry. The form includes three stanzas. The first is a single line, the second is a couplet, and the third is a single line. Each of the single lines rhyme wit the alternating line in the couplet. There is no meter. The structure is: a....b.a....b

“The Bronte Sisters”

Three sisters sad

Hated and lone
Led lives so mad

Yet, wrote to be known

Go Vat - "My Land"

This is a form of poetry that clearly shows French influence. It is believed to have become popular around the 1800s. It is composed of two three line stanzas, where the last line is the same in both stanzas. It begins with a couplet of eighty syllables, a third line. An example structure would be as followed:

xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxB

xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxB

“My Land”

Oh smooth land beneath tried my feet
With each step I feel your heartbeat
And I carry on for your sake

Oh tattered land, torn and corrupt
Your untimely end came abrupt
And I carry on for your sake