PoetryUnlimited

Diiamb Foot

2011-11-23T02:38:00.000-08:00

Diiamb is a metrical foot used in metered poetry. It consists of (four syllables) a short syllable, long syllable short syllable and a long syllable. Look at the diiamb as two iambs in qualitative meter measuring a single foot; thus representing an unstressed syllable, stressed syllable, unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable as shown in Table above.

In verses 1, 7, and 12 of the first stanza of the poem “Ode to Sweet Revenge - Ground Zero Never” shown below:

1 He is cleaning the House; they want it done with lightning speed
7 Forget the two wars with hidden goals that tanked their economy;
12 So here’s the beef feeding my head on a tropical island

When scanned shows where the Diiamb foot appears. Take a look.

Diacritical Marks for Tetrasyllables

2011-11-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

Now there are quite a number of diacritical marks associated with Tetrasyllables and their corresponding foot types. These are summarized in the Table below:

Just click on each of the following Tetrasyllable foot types to read comments made on each of them if you so desire.

Antispast

Choriamb

Diiamb

Dispondee

Ditrochee

Epitrite

First Epitrite

Second Epitrite

Third Epitrite

Fourth Epitrite

Rhyme Scheme for the National Anthem of the United Kingdom

2011-10-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!

O lord God arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall!
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On you our hopes we fix,
God save the Queen!

Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world ov'er

From every latent foe,
From the assasins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!

Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign!
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!

Lord grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring,
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the Queen!

The rhyme scheme for the six septet stanzas for the National Anthem of the United Kingdom is as follows:
aAAbbbA xxxcccA ddefffe eeAgggA eexhhxA iixjjjA

Rhyme Scheme for the National Anthem of the USA

2011-09-28T23:02:00.001-07:00

The Star Spangled Banner
By Francis Scott Key 1814

Stanza 1                                                                   Rhyme Scheme

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light                                a
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?               b
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,           a
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?          b
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,                    c
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.              c
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave                         d
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?                    d

Stanza 2

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,                e
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,                    f
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,                    e
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?                             f
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,                     g
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:                               g
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave                       D
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!                      D

Stanza 3

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore                          c
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,                           h
A home and a country should leave us no more!                           c
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.            h
No refuge could save the hireling and slave                                 d
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:                      d
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave                    D
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!                     D

Stanza 4

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand                            i
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!                   h
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land         i
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.        h
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,                        j
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."                              j
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave                  D
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!                  D

Someone on this blog asked: What is the rhyme scheme of "The Star Spangled Banner"? So here it is. The capital letters in the Rhyme Scheme indicate repeated rhymes.

ab ab cc dd      ef ef gg DD      ch ch dd DD      ih ih jj DD

The Amphibrach Foot

2011-09-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

Amphibrach

The trisyllabic metrical foot is made up of three syllables that can either be stressed or unstressed respectively as in accentual-syllabic meter or long or short as in quantitative meter. The Amphibrach is trisyllabic because it has three syllables and is identified has having its stressed syllable surrounded by two unstressed syllables as shown in the Table below:

The amphibrach is the main foot used in the writing classical limerick poems. The poems below are used as examples.

The scansion of the Limerick written by Edward Lear (1812 –1888) in quantitative meter is shown where the amphibrach foot in the poem with trimeter (3) and dimeter (2) verses in a rhyme scheme aabbA is used. The capital letter in the rhyme scheme indicates a repeated rhyme in the last verse.

The scansion on this Limerick of unknown origin shown below makes use of the amphibrach foot with tetrameter (4) and dimeter (2) verses in a rhyme scheme aabba; the raised numbers in the rhyme scheme indicate foot pattern of the verses.

What is meant by catalectic? When a verse is a metrically incomplete that is, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot, such a verse is referred to as being catalectic.

Shown below is the scansion on the Limerick by a 21st Century poet. It is made up of the amphibrach exclusively. The rhyme scheme sits on aabba. The first, second and fifth verses are in Trimeter. The third and fourth verses are in Dimeter. Take a look:

The amphibrach is the main foot used in the writing classical limerick poems. The Limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five verse amphibrachic meter or anapestic with strict rhyme scheme aabba. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, although he never used the term limerick.

Diacritical Marks for Disyllable Foot Types

2011-09-26T04:04:00.000-07:00

You should be aware by now that the poetic foot is classified by the number of syllables in the word. The Disyllable Foot Types are made of specific diacritical marks for each type of foot and diacritical marks in terms of vowel length in quantitative meter as well as the accentual-syllabic meter in English language poetry. The Table below summaries all the diacritical marks associated with the disyllable foot covered in previous blogs.

Just click on each of the following diacritical marks below table to review the blog entry on it, if you so desire.

ᵕ ̷      iamb
̷ ̷      spondee
ᵕ ᵕ     pyrrhic
̷   ᵕ     trochee

The Amphibrach Foot

2011-09-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

The trisyllabic metrical foot is made up of three syllables that can be stressed or unstressed as in accentual-syllabic meter or can either be long or short as in quantitative meter. The Amphibrach is trisyllabic because it has three syllables and is identified has having its stressed syllable surrounded by two unstressed syllables as shown in the Table 6.

Here is a scan of the 1st Stanza of the poem “Ode to Poetry” with quantitative meter symbols showing the use of the amphibrach.

Since poetry is the food of the senses
Cart me heaps of heavy loads of wholesome flesh,
Beneath the skin and on the bone;
Like a flamingo, I take my time to pick,
And eat with delightful intensity,
Savory cuts of great poetry.

Scansion of Edward Lear’s poem “Calico Pie” shows his skillful use of the amphibrach. Take a look.

Calico Pie,
The little Birds fly
Down to the calico tree,
Their wings were blue,
And they sang “Tilly-loo!”
Till away they flew,
And they never came back to me!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!

The basic metron of classical limerick poems is the amphibrach, and the traditional limerick pattern that has somewhat emerged is shown in Table 7.

This pattern is rightly credited the funny poetry of Edward Lear who wrote such for his patron’s grand children in 1840. However, many variations to this pattern have persisted and continue to do so throughout the ages. Nevertheless, all have drawn inspiration from the classical limerick mode of Edward Lear’s funny poetry. It can truly be said that Edward Lear was a precursor to Limerick poetry, although he never used the term limerick. Here is scansion of one of his funny poems in quantitative meter showing his effective use of the amphibrach foot in “There was a young lady whose chin” as shown below:

There was a young lady whose chin, a
Resembled the point of a pin; a
So she had it made sharp, b
And purchased a harp, b
And played several tunes with her chin. A

Here is a scan of a Limerick "Wiener Souse" wih quantitative meter symbols by a 21st Century poet showing all the five verses making use of the amphibrach only and rhyming aabba.

Foot in Bacchius

2011-09-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

A trisyllable foot consisting of a short vowel followed by two long vowels in quantitative meter or an unstressed syllable followed by two stressed syllables in qualitative meter found in English verse is called the Bacchius as shown in the table below.

It is a rare metrical foot found in poetry but here are examples of its use found
in this poem:

Keats “Ode to a Nightingale” Stanza 1, verses 1-6 as scanned below:

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
    My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
    One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
    But being too happy in thine happiness, -

Antibacchius Foot

2011-09-03T02:51:00.000-07:00

Antibacchius is a foot of three syllables in quantitative meter consisting of two long syllables followed by short syllable. In qualitative meter it is shown as two stressed syllables followed by an unstressed syllable as shown below.

Example of the use of this Antibacchius is shown below in the scansion of the first seven verses of the first stanza of the “Ode to Black Pudding and Souse”. Those verses containing the Antibacchius foot are italicized. Take a look.

Small chattel-house where she was born and raised
In Maycock's village, her ancestral home;
Bare-footed youth on Sunday evenings did walk
Rope leashed black-belly sheep and goats to graze
Weeds and grass on dust roads with out sidewalk;
Mindful of cane-fields that grow planters' cash,
As arrowed canes swayed in breeze before cropping bash;

Look what happens when this same first stanza of the “Ode to Black Pudding and Souse” is rescanned and the Antibacchius foot in quantitative meter is replaced for some other foot type using qualitative meter. Compare and contrast the first and second scansion of the stanza and draw your own conclusions.

Small chattel-house where she was born and raised
In Maycock's village, her ancestral home;
Bare-footed youth on Sunday evenings did walk
Rope leashed black-belly sheep and goats to graze
Weeds and grass on dust roads with out sidewalk;
Mindful of cane-fields that grow planters' cash,
As arrowed canes swayed in breeze before cropping bash;

Foot in Anapest

2011-09-01T14:55:00.001-07:00

The Anapest fits snuggly as a trisyllabic metrical foot made up of three syllables obviously. The British spelling for it is Anapaest and the American spelling is Anapest. This anapestic foot is shown in the Table above and is made up of two short syllables followed by one long syllable in quantitative meter; and in accentual-syllabic meter used in English language poetry two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable . By the way “meter” is American spelling and the British spelling is “metre”. The Anapest is also known as the Antidactylus because the dactyl ( ̷ ᵕ ᵕ ) has this symbolic pattern in reversed order.

English language poetry tends to use the Anapest as the dominant foot in the writing of Limericks. In accentual-syllabic meter the Anapest because it ends with a stressed syllable easily facilitates strong end-rhymes and tends to create a very rolling, galloping feeling verse, and allows for long verses with a great deal of internal complexity. The poem used as an example is “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by the poet Lord George Gordon Bryon published in 1815. This poem describes the events that are chronicled in 2 Kings 18-19 of the Bible.

The stanzas from Bryon’s poem are scanned to show the effects of the anapest in Qualitative meter giving rise to Pentameter verses. Take a look.

Shown below is the scansion on the Limerick by a 21st Century poet where the anapest is a key component of the verses. The rhyme scheme is aabba. The first, second and fifth verses are in Tetrameter. The third and fourth verses are in Trimeter. Take a look:

But some Anapestic Limericks have this rhyme scheme aabca, shown below.

The poet Lewis Carroll is famous for his masterful use of the Anapest in Tetrameter verses rhyming abab. Here is an example of a stanza taken from his poem, “The Hunting of the Snark”. In the example the anapest is underlined for quick recognition.

Diacritical Marks for Trisyllables

2011-08-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

Now there are quite a number of diacritical marks associated with Trisyllables and their corresponding foot types. These are summarized in the Table below:

Just click on each of the following diacritical marks to review the blog entry on it, if you so desire.

Amphibrach                      ᵕ   ̵   ᵕ
Anapest or Antidactylus    ᵕ   ᵕ   ̷
Antibacchius                      ̵    ̵   ᵕ
Baccius                             ᵕ   ̵    ̵
Cretic or Amphimacer        ̵ ᵕ ̵
Dactyl                               ̷ ᵕ ᵕ
Molossus                          ̵    ̵    ̵̵̵̵̵
Tribrach                           ᵕ   ᵕ   ᵕ

Pyrrhic the Mirror Image of Dibrach

2011-08-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Pyrrhic Foot

In the Table below notice how two short vowels” of the Quantitative Meter equate with two unstressed syllables of Accentual-Syllabic forms in Qualitative meter. These iconic symbols represent the Pyrrhic foot.

These two short vowel symbols (ᵕ ᵕ) are known as the dibrach in quantitative meter of the Greek and Roman poetry. In English poetry where qualitative meter is used, these two short syllable symbols ( ᵕ ᵕ) are known as a pyrrhic. The pyrrhic is not used to construct an entire poem due to its monotonous sound effect.

In Verses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of stanza 50 of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam”, measuring four iambic tetrameter verses rhyming abba, in the sequence of lyrics make in memoriam an “envelope stanza” to his friend Arthur Henry Hallam in 1849 shows the use of the pyrrhic. In this excerpt one cannot but notice that he used the pyrrhic foot only two times in the stanza used here as an exemplar. Take a look:

Envelope Stanza is a quatrain with the rhyme scheme abba, such that verses 2 and 3 are enclosed between the rhymes of verses 1 and 4.

A Foot to Spondee and crossing over to Trochee

2011-08-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

The Spondee

In Table below notice how the “long and short vowels” of the Quantitative Meter equate with the “stressed and unstressed syllables of Accentual-Syllabic forms in Qualitative meter with respect to the Spondee. The Spondee still measures a foot even though it has one sound that is stressed.

In Verses 1, 2, and 3 of stanza 50 taken from the poem “In Memoriam”, by Alfred Lord Tennyson are examples of the use of the Spondee as shown below:

The Trochee

In the Table below notice how the “long and short vowels” of the Quantitative Meter equate with the “stressed and unstressed syllables of Accentual-Syllabic forms in Qualitative meter with respect to the Trochee.

Trochee is called a falling meter because its sound falls from stressed to unstressed. In Verses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of stanza 50 of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” show how the trochee is used or not used with other metrical foot types. Take a look:

Have you noticed that in quatrain 50 Verse 2 of “In Memoriam” only has a trochee and is not used anywhere else in the quatrain rhyming abba. As you read the verses aloud do you not feel that this verse has dramatically shifted the tempo away from the tempo established in the other three verses in the quatrain? Well that is what happens when the poet decides not to use verses made up entirely of iambs but pepper the iambs with other foot types. Also, Verse 2 is a Tetrameter Verse while the other three verses are Iambic Tetrameters. There are no iambs in Verse 2 but still measures four feet; hence the reason why it is simply called a Tetrameter Verse.

A quatrain is a stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four verses with a defined rhyme scheme. The significance of the quatrain lies in the fact that it can easily be memorized because it contains only four verses.

The Foot of Iamb

2011-08-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

In Table above notice how the symbols for “long and short vowels” in disyllable of the Quantitative Meter equate with the “stressed and unstressed disyllable of Accentual-Syllabic forms in Qualitative meter with respect to the Iamb, the most common metrical foot in English and other languages as well.

The Iamb is called a rising meter because its sound rises from unstressed sound to a stressed sound. The four verses in Stanza 50 of Lord Tennyson’s poem "In Memoriam" provide examples of iambs used in English poetry.

In Memoriam
Stanza 50

1 Be near me when my light is low,
2 When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick
3 And tingle; and the heart is sick,
4 And all the wheels of Being slow.

And show the results from the four verses scanned as follows:

The scansion of these four verses has provided some basic clues as to the structure and form of the verses in the poem. Verses 1 and 3 of stanza 50 make use of the iamb and other foot types but still measures four feet each in Non-Standard Iambic Tetrameter verse. Verse 2 has no iambs but still measures four feet; without any iambs present it cannot be called an Iambic Tetrameter verse, but simply a Tetrameter Verse. Verse 4 is made up entirely of iambs and measures four iambic feet and is rightly called a Standard Iambic Tetrameter verse. The iamb is clearly recognized for its monotonous rhythmic tone (da-dum, da-dum, da-dum); probably the reason why Lord Tennyson mixed iambs with other foot types like the spondee, pyrrhic to shake up the rhythmic flow.

A Standard iambic verse regardless of the length of the foot is a verse containing all its feet made up of iambs.

A Non-standard iambic verse regardless of the length of the foot has the iambs mixed with other foot types for example the, trochee, spondee, dactyl, anapest and pyrrhic. This structure counteracts the metronomic effect by substituting for an iamb another type of foot whose stress is different. The first foot in the verse is the one most likely to change. The second foot is almost always an iamb. This is where the “inversion technique” is used. This technique allows iambic tetrameter verses (and other types of iambic feet, example iambic pentameter) to retain their dominance in spite of being invaded by other foot types. The inversion technique imposes strict compliance in that there must be no compromising on the required length of feet; so an iambic tetrameter must measure four feet, the iambic pentameter must measure five feet, iambic hexameter must measure six feet and so on. Most inversions tend to fall on the trochee.

In the poetic world, no one goes around saying Non-standard and Standard Iambic Tetrameter as the case may be; so long as the verses measure four feet the qualifier is not needed, just simply Iambic Tetrameter, Iambic Pentameter, whatever the case may be is the acceptable term used in poetry analysis.

Attention must be drawn to the fact that in addition to having poems written in classical Hexameter, over centuries English poems have shifted from classical Hexameter to Iambic Hexameter. An example of this shifting is seen in poems written by Michael Drayton and other eminent poets through the ages. Drayton used iambic hexameter couplets way back in 1612 in his “Poly-Olbion”. Here is an example from his works:

Classical English poets have experienced great difficulty in writing poems with Dactylic Hexameter verses. The position taken on this is that English leaves vowels and consonants out from words, thus becoming a problem because the Hexameter relies on phonetics, and sounds always have fixed positions. Several attempts were made in the 18th century to adapt Dactylic Hexameter into English Iambic Pentameter. An example of this is found “Couplets on Wit” by Alexander Pope where he used Heroic Couplets (a pair of rhyming verses written in iambic pentameter) an example is shown in Stanza VI taken from the poem where he use quite effectively iambs in the creation of Iambic Pentameter verses in heroic couplets; and disregarded the use of the Dactylic Hexameter. The Dactylic Hexameter has never been popularly used in English, where the standard meter is iambic pentameter. Take a look:

Couplets on Wit (Stanza VI)

Wou’d you your writings to some Palates fit
Purged all you verses from the sin of wit
For authors now are conceited grown
They praise no works but what are like their own

Have you noticed that in verse 3 of the exampler that the last foot is incomplete, that is, there is a syllable missing? In poetry this is exceptable. What the poet has done is to shift the feeling of the poem, a technique so often used to achieve a certain effect. So in addition to this verse being an iambic pentameter, it is also a catalectic verse in iambic pentameter. A safe definition for this type of verse probably would go like this: A catalectic verse is a metrically incomplete verse, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot.

Heroic Couplet

A pair of rhyming verses written in Iambic Pentameter is termed a Heroic couplet. It was so called for its use in the composition of epic poetry in the 17th and 18th centuries. The couplet is formed with the use of two successive verses of poetry with equal length and rhythmic correspondence with end words that rhyme.

Geoffrey Chaucer created the “heroic couplet” easily recognized in his “Canterbury Tales”. A couplet for special purposes, is the shortest stanza form, but is frequently joined with other couplets to form a poem with stanzas of four verses with each verse having ten-syllables. So it is easy to figure out why the “heroic couplet” bears such names as the decasyllabic quatrain also known as the “heroic stanza”, or “heroic quatrain”. Thus, the decasyllabic quatrain consists of four verses with a rhyme scheme of aabb or abab.

Note however, that “heroic couplets are also formed with no stanza divisions, as in Roberts Browning’s “My Last Duchess”. See excerpt of poem scanned below:

Dactylic Hexameter

2011-08-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Dactyl is a foot in metered poetry having the first syllable long followed by two short syllables in quantitative meter shown by the following symbols ̵ ᵕ ᵕ and in qualitative meter the dactyl has a pattern where the first syllable is stressed followed by two unstressed syllables shown by this pattern ̷ ᵕ ᵕ so the word “poetry” ( p̅o ět řy ) is itself a dactyl and measures one foot.

Click here to read all verses in Spider in the Web

The dactyl is what defines the Hexameter. The Hexameter consists of six feet. It is also called the “Dactylic Hexameter” and the “Heroic Hexameter”. It has traditionally been associated with the Quantitative meter of classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin. The poets of that era considered the Hexameter to be the grand style of classical poetry of which Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid are the premier examples. The dactyl ( ̷ ᵕ ᵕ ) a long syllable and two short syllables is what drives the Hexameter foot but it allows for the inclusion of two long syllables ( ̷ ̷ ) called a spondee. A short syllable ( ᵕ ) is a syllable with a short vowel and one consonant at the end (example: ăt but it is long in ātlas). A long syllable ( ̷ ) is a syllable that either has a long vowel, two or more consonants at the end; a long consonant or both (example: latch key). Space between words doesn’t matter.

The following chart below shows the variable patterns which are acceptable when writing classical Hexameter verses:

Specifically though, the first four feet can be dactyls or spondees, more or less freely. The fifth foot must be a dactyl. The sixth foot is always a spondee, though it may be an anceps syllable. Homer’s hexameters contain a far higher proportion of dactyls than later hexameter poetry. Homer used dialectal form that is, altering the forms of words so that words fitted the hexameter.

Below is an excerpt from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Evangeline" Preface: A Tale of Acadie shows the classical Dactylic Hexameter foot patterns.

This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines, and the hemlocks,Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman
Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers,-

The dactyl appears in the compulsory fifth foot and the spondee in the compulsory sixth foot, this final metron is represented by ( ̵ x ) but in any given Dactylic Hexameter verse it is not uncommon to find either a trochee ( ̵ ᵕ ) or a spondee ( ̵ ̵ ) but what happens when the Dactylic Hexameter has a trochee in the last foot when the rules of the Dactylic Hexameter insist that the anceps in the last foot must be a spondee; poetic license allows for the anceps x to be changed into a long syllable through the process known as poetic license, thus during the scansion of the poem the trochee becomes a spondee automatically. The anceps is a “free syllable” or “variable syllable” in a verse of poetry. The syllable may be either long or short or "irrational" depending on the meter being discussed. In Quantitative meter the symbol “x” is used when anceps occur.

In the following excerpt from the poem, “The Invader” Stanza I is written in Dactylic Hexameter using qualitative meter by a 21st century poet. Take a look at what its scansion revealed:

The Invader
Stanza 1
Soon as the girl in her night gown closed door, climbed on the bedspread;
Clinging to window, a bug in a web cage; spider on soft lace;
Looking from skyline tall poles, stuck deep, lighting the homestead,
Hot air blowing in! Spider in bedroom, crawling in Jane's space.

The five verses from“Aeneid” by the Roman poet Virgil show a full scansion.

Notice that in the scansion of the Dactylic Hexameter poem above, three vertical symbols (│ ⁞ ║) stand serving a very specific function in the scansion process. Scansion is the analysis of metrical patterns seen in verses of a poem written in closed form. Closed form or metered poetry is characterized by regular and consistency in such elements as rhyme, verse length, and metrical pattern.

This symbol │is called the Diaeresis. The diaeresis marks the boundary between the end of a foot and the beginning of the next foot. The diaeresis never occurs within a foot and does not mark any discernible pause in the sense of the poem.

This symbol║ the “double pipe” is called the Caesura. Typically the caesura is significant when it occurs near the middle of the verse and correlates with a break of sense in the verse, such as a punctuation mark. The caesura divides the verse and allows the poet to vary the basic metrical pattern being worked on. There are two types of caesura: masculine and feminine. A masculine caesura is a pause that follows a stress syllable; a feminine caesura follows an unstressed syllable.

Another characteristic of the caesura is the position it holds in the verse. A pause close to the beginning of a verse is called an initial caesura, at the middle of the verse it’s called a medial caesura, and near the end of the verse it's called a terminal caesura.

Caesurae are popular in Greek and Latin versification, especially in heroic verse form, the Dactylic Hexameter. Versification is the process of turning prose into verse using versifier tools such as content, form, poetic diction, measurement, sound effects and elements of poetry. In theory a caesura may occur in any of the six feet, and in fact most verses have two or more caesurae. The principal caesura marks the most obvious pause in the sense, and is usually in the third foot (although it often appears in the second and fourth feet as well).

This symbol ⁞ is called the Bucolic Diaeresis. The bucolic diaeresis is a common feature in the scansion of dactylic hexameter where it is placed between the fourth and fifth feet of a verse and must end with the rhythm of dum-di-di dum-dum. This word, “bucolic” comes from the Greek word boukolos, “herdsman” because dactylic poetry of the herdsmen was notorious for “shave and a haircut” verse ending.

The dactyl ( ̵ ᵕ ᵕ ) is the metrical foot of Greek elegiac poetry. This verse form became a common poetic vehicle for conveying any strong emotion. A typical verse structure of an elegiac couplet is shown in the chart below.

The Roman poet Ennius introduced the Elegiac Couplet to Latin poetry for themes less lofty than that of epic, for which dactylic hexameter was suited. An Elegiac Couplet is a pair of sequential verses in poetry in which the first verse is written in dactylic hexameter and the second verse in dactylic pentameter.

Ovid, the ancient Roman poet is considered the master of the elegiac couplet and in his “Amores” provides striking examples of this. The first two verses of his “Amores” shown below are scanned to show how he structured his elegiac couplets without end rhymes. End rhymes are never a common feature in Roman elegiac couplets.

"Elegy for Angela Barnes, RN” is an elegiac couplet. Stanza 5 of the poem is scanned using quantitative meter symbols as an example to show the verses structured along the pattern of the classical elegiac couplets. In quantitative meter the symbol for the short syllable is the ᵕ and this symbol ̵ is used for the long syllable. The symbols used when scanning verses in qualitative meter show unstressed syllable as this ᵕ and the ̷ for stressed syllable. This is okay because the English unstressed syllable ᵕ is equivalent to the classical short syllable ᵕ and the English stressed syllable ̷ is equivalent to ̵ the symbol used for the classical long syllable.

Foot in Cretic

2011-08-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Cretic is a metrical foot consisting of three syllables, the first long, the second short and the third long ( ̵ ᵕ ̵ ) also called amphimacer. It is most unusual to see verses in a poem made up exclusively with cretic verses. However, any verse mixing iambs and trochees could employ a cretic foot as a transition. In other words, a verse might have two iambs and two trochees, with a cretic foot between. These three verses taken from the homostrophic ode, “Midsummer’s Day Exquisiteness” and scanned in qualitative meter provide examples of the cretic foot.

The Homostrophic Ode consists of a number of stanzas alike in structure and rhyme scheme. The poet is free to choose in accordance with the demands of the contents:-

the form which the basic structure should take
the number of verses
verse length
rhyme scheme

An ode is typically a lyrical verse written in praise of, or dedicated to someone or something which captures the poet's interest or serves as an inspiration for the ode.

Every so often, in the scansion of a verse there appears at the end of the verse a foot that is missing, a syllable making the verse incomplete. This creates what is known as a catalectic ending. Catalectic is a metrically incomplete verse lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot.

Why Grievous Valentine's Day is a Pseudo-elegiac couplet

2011-08-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

The poem “Grievous Valentine’s Day” is described as a pseudo-elegiac couplet. Why is that? The last stanza of this poem is scanned in qualitative meter to find answers to the question as to why it is a fake elegiac couplet, and fake elegiac stanza even though it adheres to the concept of what an elegy should reflect.

What is an elegy? The elegy is a type of poem that shows lament, praise and consolation in a formal and sustained way over the death of a particular person. It should not be considered as a eulogy because a eulogy is prose written in praise of the character or achievements of a deceased person.

Here are some reasons why “Grievous Valentine’s Day” is a pseudo-elegiac couplet:

* The second verse of the poem is written in iambic pentameter instead of the compulsory iambic hexameter. This pattern prevails throughout the entire poem.

* The stanza is not made up of elegiac couplets. An elegiac couplet is a pair of sequential verses usually of equal length and rhythmic correspondence with end words that rhyme aabb. The first verse of the couplet is written in dactylic hexameter and second verse in iambic pentameter and the rhyme scheme abab.

* The stanza cannot be called an elegiac stanza. An elegiac stanza, in poetry, is made up of a quatrain in iambic pentameter with alternate verses rhyming. The stanzas in this poem do not conform to this specified format.

Antipast Foot

2011-07-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

Antipast is a metrical foot used in metered poetry. It consists of a short syllable, two long syllables and a short syllable ˘ ¯ ¯ ˘. English poetry uses Qualitative meter where syllables are usually categorized as being stressed or unstressed, rather than long or short as is the case in Quantitative meter of Greek and Roman poetry. In Qualitative meter, the combination of the iambic foot ᵕ ̷ and the trochaic foot ̷ ᵕ forms an Antipast foot. Book I, Verse 1 “Paradise Lost” by John Milton provides an example of the Antipast foot as shown below.

Choriamb Foot

2011-07-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Choriamb is a metron in Greek and Latin poetry consisting of four syllables in a pattern of long-short-short-long ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ that is a trochee ¯ ˘ alternating with an iamb ˘ ¯. In English poetry, choriamb is sometimes used to describe four syllables which follow a pattern of stressed-unstressed-unstressed-stressed ̷ ˘ ˘ ̷ . In English poetry, the choriamb is often found in the first four syllables in standard iambic pentameter verses. The following verses 6, 9 and 10 found in stanza 2 of the Homostrophic ode written by John Keats’, “Ode to Autumn” provide examples as shown below:

According to prosody, it is not uncommon for poets to vary their Iambic Pentameter, while maintaining the iamb as the dominant foot. However, convention allows that these variations must always contain only five feet. The second foot is almost always an iamb. The first foot is the one most likely to change by the use of the inversion technique. This technique counteracts the metronomic effect by substituting for an iamb another type of foot whose stress is different. So it is not unusual to see any of these (trochee, spondee, dactyl, anapest or pyrrhic) appearing in Iambic Pentameter verses. The inversion mostly tends to fall on a trochee. Another common departure from the standard Iambic Pentameter is the addition of a final unstressed syllable which creates a feminine ending or what is referred to as a weak ending.

Homostrophic Ode consists of a number of stanzas alike in structure. The poet is free to decide on the structure of the basis stanza, with respect to the:-
- number of verses in the stanza
- verse length
- rhyme scheme
in accordance with the demands of the content.
-----
American spelling: meter, anapest
British spelling: metre, anapaest

Molossus Foot

2011-07-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Molossus is a metrical foot used in metered poetry. It consists of three long syllables ( ̵̵̵̵̵ ̵̵̵̵̵ ̵̵̵̵̵ ). In English poetry, syllables are usually categorized as being stressed or unstressed, rather than long or short as is the case in quantitative meter of Greek and Roman poetry. The molossus is very rare in English poetry, but can usually be created by using an adjective-adjective-noun combination. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Break, Break, Break” (in memory of Arthur Hallam) shows a molossus in verses 1 and 2 of the first stanza as shown below:

The poem “Freak Storm Smash” is loaded with the molossus foot as shown in the partial scan below:

Tribrach Foot

2011-07-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

This trisyllable foot consists of three short vowels ( ᵕ ᵕ ᵕ ) or three unstressed syllables ( ᵕ ᵕ ᵕ ) in metered poetry. The appearance of the Tribrach in English poetry is rare, as it tends to resolve into two disyllabic feet, depending upon the foot that surrounds it.

Examples of the Tribrach foot are shown in verses (1, 7, 24 and 28) from Robert Lee Frost’s poem “An Old Man’s Winter Night” . Frost was an American poet. He died at age 89 in 1963. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. He received four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry. His works tended to mirror rural life in New England during the early twentieth century, wherewith he used those themes to examine complex social and philosophical ideas.

An Old Man’s Winter Night

1 All out of doors looked darkly in at him
7 That brought him to that creaking room was age.
24 Once in the stove, disturbed him and he shifted,
28 It's this he does it of a winter night.

Here is the scan of the poem "Walk Through Trees" showing where the tribrach foot occurs in these three quatrains with tetrameter verses rhyming abab as shown below:

Quantitative Meter Bedfellows - Part One

2011-06-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Quantitative Meter likes to measure the time it takes to talk with syllables. Naturally, any talk with syllables required the obvious bunkering down with vowels. Why you asked! The syllable is always in bed with a vowel. They cannot resist each other. They are like Siamese twins, identical to say the least but with minor precularities. The vowel asserts her independence though by telling her soul-mate whether her stay is long or short. This jiving does have significance in Latin and how might that be?

In Latin a word has as many syllables as it has vowels or diphthongs. Dividing a word into syllables is called syllabication. Let see how this impacts Latin poetry. Latin words are divided into syllables along a few basic rules as shown below:

- Two contiguous vowels or a vowel and a dphthong are separated. For example: dea, de-a ; deae, de-ae

- A single consonant between two vowels goes with the second vowel. For example: amicus, a-mi-cus

- When two or more consonants stand between two vowels, generally only the last consonant goes with the second vowel. For example: mittō, mit-tō; servāre, ser-vā-re; consūmptus, con-sūmp-tus

- A stop (p, b, t, d, c, g) plus a liquid (l, r) generally count as a single consonant and go with the following vowel. For example: patrem pa-trem; castra, cas-tra

- Counted as single consonants are the qu and the aspirates ch, ph, th which should never be separated in syllabication. For example: architectus, ar chi tec tus; Loquācem lo-quā-cem

Every syllable in any vocal language must have a vowel. Every word must hav a vowel. Well of course, the number of syllables in a word dictates how many vowels will appear in the word. For example: disyllables have two syllables and two vowels; trisyllables have three syllables and three vowels; tetrasyllables have four syllables and four vowels and obviously a word with five syllabes would have five vowels and so on and so forth.

In Latin a syllable is long by "nature" if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong, a syllable is long by "positio" if it contains a short vowel followed by two or more consonants or by X which is a double consonant:Ks. Otherwise a syllable is short, again. Check out these examples shown below:

- Syllables long by nature: laudō lau dō; Rōma, Rō ma; amīcus, a mī cus
- Syllables long by position: servat, ser-vat; sapientia, sa-pi-en-ti-a; axis, ax-is (ak sis)
- Examples with long syllables underlined, whether long by nature or long by position: lau-dā-te,
mo-ne-ō, sae-pe, cōn-ser-vā-tis, pu-el-lā-rum

Syllable quality plays out even in the English Language where some syllables take longer to pronounce than others, but we don't as a rule think about this so much. How often do you stop to think how in the word 'enough' (e-nough) with its very short first syllable and the longer second syllable. In Classical Latin this observation is very important because syllable quality impacts significantly on Latin poetry; and of immediate importance, syllable quality determined the position of a word's stress accent.

Words in Latin, like those in English, were pronounced with extra emphasis on one syllable (or more in the case of long words); the placement of this 'stress accent' these strict and simple rules apply:

- In a word of two syllables the accent always falls on the first syllale: sérvo, sér-vo; sáepe, sáe-pe; níhil, ní-hil

In words of three or more syllable, the accent falls on the next to last syllable (the penultimate), if the syllable is long. For example: servare, ser-vāˊ-re; conservat, cōn-sér-vat; fortuna, for-tūˊ-na Otherwise the accent falls on the syllable before the "antepenultimate. For example: moneo, mó-ne-o; patria, pá-tri-á; pecunia, pe-cū-niˊ-a; volucris, vó-lu-cris. Please note that accent marks are hardly included when writing Latin because the rules for accentuation are very regular.

Next Topic: Classical Latin Vowels and Diphthongs
(Soon to come)

Classical Latin Alphabet and its Impact on Quantitative Meter

2011-06-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Quantitative meter is about the alternation of “long syllables” and “short syllables”. Since a syllable must contain a vowel, it is the vowel that is the focus for determining the length or shortness of the syllable. In discussing this let’s put into perspective the composition of the Classical Latin alphabet and how it equates with the English alphabet. As can be deduced from Charts 9a, 9b the classical Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet is made up of twenty-three letters representing vowels, consonants, and diphthongs sounds; whereas, the English alphabet has twenty-six letters made up of vowels, consonants, double consonants and diphthongs sounds as well. The Latin alphabet gave us the English alphabet. However, missing from the Classical Latin alphabet during its early stages of development were the letters J, U, W.

Classical Latin Alphabet

While some letters were missing new letters were introduced or existing letters were repositioned. So what does this shifting landscape as it were tells us about Classical Latin?

Many interesting features of Classical Latin from a genealogical perspective are found as you will see. GN in Classical Latin produces the nasalized “ng” (ngay) sound as in the English word “hangnail”. Magnus is the Latin example of this principle. One could say this is a double-consonant in the making.

The letter H was drafted into Latin from another language. The H with the sound of (hā) was a breathing sound as in English, only less harshly pronounced as in these Latin examples: hic (hik), haec (hike).

Interestingly enough, the letter ‘I’ served as both a vowel and consonant. Consonantal ‘I’ makes the sound (e) appears regularly in English derivatives as a ‘J’ a letter added to the alphabet in the Middle Ages as for example: maior = major, Iūlius = Julius. Note however, when the ‘I’ comes between two vowels within a word it serves in double capacity: as the vowel ‘I’ forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel, and as the consonant like English Y as seen for example in: reiectus ( rei yectus) maior ( mai yor), cuius ( cui yus.) Otherwise it is usually a vowel.

The letters J did not exist. It appeared in the 16th Century AC. It was made by a French guy called Pierre de la Rameé. J was introduced to replace consonant ‘I’ as in this Latin word IESVS. Consonantal ‘I’ regularly appears in English derivatives as a J, a letter added to the alphabet in the Middle Ages as shown in the following examples: maior = major, Iūlius = Julius.

The letter K is very rarely used in Classical Latin, notice that in Charts 9a, 9b the C (cē), K (cā) and Q (cū) carry the K-sound in Latin.

In Latin the M usually had the sound it has in English, pronounced with the lips closed as in this example /monet/. There is some evidence, however, that in at least certain instances final /M/, that is, M at the end of a word, following a vowel, was pronounced with the lips open, producing a nasalization of the preceding vowel as in these two examples: tum, etiam.

The letter Q is pronounced as in English but is always followed by consonantal U as in QU, the combination having the sound KW (koo) as sound in these two examples: quid, quoque. QU is not a double-consonant in Classical Latin; it is treated as a single consonant.

In Latin the R is always rolled. However, as an English speaker I find great difficulty in creating the rolling sound for the R but I haven’t given up trying.

In Classical Latin the S sound was always voiceless as in the English word, see, never voiced as in the English word ease. These three Latin examples illustrate this rule: sed, posuissēs, mīssistis.

In Classical Latin, the letter T always had the sound of the English letter T as in tired, never ‘SH’ as in nation or ‘CH’ as in mention. These three Latin words are examples of this rule: taciturnitās, nātiōnem, mentiōnem.

Pierre de la Rameé is credited for introducing as well the letter ‘U’ into Classical Latin. ‘U’ is a variant of ‘V’, and ‘W’ was introduced as a ‘double -V’ to make a distinction between the sounds of ‘V’ and ‘W’ in the English language, though unnecessary in Latin. In Latin, the ‘U’ sound was written with the letter ‘V’for example, IVLIVS (Julius).

Puzzling as it may be, the ‘W’ was never integrated in the classical Latin alphabet. The letter ‘W’ was originally a ‘double V’ (VV) and it was first used by those scribes writing in Old English during the 7th century AD, however, the Runic letter Wynn (Ƿ) was more commonly used to write the (W) sound. After the Norman Conquest, the letter W became more popular and had replaced Wynn by 1300.

In Classical Latin the X has two letters (ks) so the X is recognized as a double-consonant.

The letters Y (ÿ) and Z were borrowed from the Greek Alphabet, and used only in Greek words. The letter ÿ comes from the Greek upsilon and the Romans called it "ÿ Graeca." The letter Z comes from the Greek Zeta and the Romans called it "Zeta," with a long zz sound. Z has two letters (ds) so it is a double-consonant.

A double-consonant is formed when two consonants coming together in a word to create a different sound. In Classical Latin, the ‘rr’ in the “currant” was pronounced as two separate r’s like the two r’s in this English sentence (The cur ran.); likewise the ‘tt’ (taytay) in the Latin word “admittent” sounded like the two t’s in the English sentence (Admit ten.) The Romans pronounced double-consonants as two separate consonants.

In Classical Latin these pair of letters: CH /kha/, PH /payha/, and TH /tha/ do not count as double consonants. They are treated as single letters as follows:

CH = CHI pronounced as /ke/ as in Archilochus
PHI pronounced as /p/ as in philosophia
THETA pronounced as /tayta) as in theatrum

The Romans quite appropriately pronounced double consonants as two separate consonants.

Next Topic: Quantitative Meter Bedfellows
(Soon to come)

The Quantitative Meter

2011-04-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Quantitative meter is not about the alternation of heavily stress syllables or lightly stress syllables, as is the case with Qualitative meter, but rather on measuring the length of time required to pronounce syllables from the basic rhythmic units. Since a syllable must contain a vowel, it is the vowel which is the focus for determining the length or shortness of syllable. In scanning quantitative meter written poems, this symbol ( - ) is used to show where the long vowel syllables occur, and this symbol ( ̌ ) to show where the short vowel syllables appear.

Vowels in quantitative meter can be long or short by “nature” or by “position”. Nature and position are determining factors for vowel quality. When the quality of vowels is determined by nature, this is to say that the Romans pronounced them as such, having learned to distinguish their sound during the course of acquiring Latin. “Position quality” vowels are created when vowels that are naturally short become long when followed by two consonants.

Quantitative meter in classical Greek and Latin poetry measures the length and shortness of vowel syllables, and is the heart of the dactylic hexameter, which defines the epic poetry of the Greeks and Romans. Homer’s era epics were more sung than recited to the accompaniment of the lyre. This was not practiced by Virgil who preferred the spoken word. Virgil’s epic poem Aeneid is written in dactylic hexameter. The dactyl has a rhythmic shape in the form of a long syllable (-) and two short syllables ( ̌ ̌ ). In recitation, the dactyl usually sounds like “dum-diddy” with the “dum” equal to the (-) and the “diddy to ( ̌ ̌ ). The dactyl (- ̌ ̌ ) is the basic metron of the dactylic hexameter. The metron (pl. metra) refers to the rhythmic unit that can be repeated in a verse or series of verse. The thesis (-) is the first half of the dactylic foot or metron and the arsis ( ̌ ̌ ) is the second half of the dactylic foot or metron. The hexameter which is the shortened term for dactylic hexameter is a verse of poetry consisting of six metra in a row. The dactylic hexameter is the meter of epic poetry of the Greeks and Romans as mentioned before.

In the classical style of the Greeks and Romans it is impossible to conceive of an epic poem not composed in dactylic hexameter. The proof of the pudding is found in this example taken from Aeneid Book I, lines 1-7 by Latin poet Virgil (the English translation is provided).

Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-7 by Latin poet Virgil

1 Arma vi rumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
2 Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
3 Litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
4 Vi superum saevae memorem lunonis ob iram;
5 multa quoque et bello passus, dum onderet urbem,
6 inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
7 Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.

The translation of Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-7 from Latin to English

1 I sing of arms and a man, who first came from the shores of Troy
2 To Italy, and Lavina shores exile by fate
3 Having been tossed about much both on lands and the deep
4 By the might of those above on account of the unforgotten anger of harsh Juno
5 And also having suffered much in war; until he should found a city,
6 And carrying the gods to Latium from whence came the Latin Race,
7 And the Alban fathers, and the walls of high Rome.

Quantitative meter is all about the alternation of “long syllables” and “short syllables”. Since a syllable must contain a vowel, it is the vowel that is the focus for determining the length or shortness of the syllable. The long vowels in Latin are shown with this symbol (- )and short vowels by this symbol ( ˇ )

Long vowel sounds in Latin are: ā ē ī ō ū as in these words: părātă; cēna; festīnat; labōrat; cūr.

Short vowel sounds in Latin are: ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ as in these words: părātă; fĕstīnat; ĭntrat; mŏx; ambŭlat.

Click on this link to hear the vowel sounds

Diphthongs consists of two vowel sounds pronounced as one. The common diphthongs found in Latin are ae au ei eu oe ui as in these words: laeta; laudat; deinde; heu; coepit; cui

Click on this link to hear the diphthong sounds

Vocabulary:

ambŭlat (he, she or it walks)
cēna (dinner)
coepit (he, she or it is beginning)
cui (to whom)
cūr (why)
deinde ( then)
festīnat (he, she or it is hurrying)
heu (sigh)
ĭntrat (he, she or it is entering)
labōrat (he, she or it is working)
laeta (happy)
laudat (he, she or it praises)
mŏx (soon)
părātă (prepared)

Next Topic: Classical Latin Alphabet

Scansion in Poetry

2011-03-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

(Graphic Scansion of the Dactylic Hexameter poem "The Invader" Stanza 1)

....dactyl........dactyl..........spondee.........spondee............dactyl........spondee
......./uu.........../uu...........//...................//................./uu.............//
Soon as the| girl, in her| night gown || closed door,| climbed on the|bedspread;|
...........................................caesura

....dactyl......spondee......dactyl........spondee......dactyl.....spondee
....../uu..........//............/uu...........//........../uu..........//
Clinging to| window| pane,|| in a| web cage;| spider on| soft lace;|
..............................caesura

...dactyl......spondee......spondee.....spondee.......dactyl......spondee
..../uu...........//...........//...........//................/uu............//
Looking in| skyline,| tall poles||stuck deep, lighting the| homestead,|
...................................caesura

.....dactyl......dactyl.........dactyl......spondee.......dactyl........spondee
....../uu........./uu........../uu...........//............../uu..............//
Tropic air| blowing in|! Spider|| in| bedroom|, crawling in| Jane's space.|
.................................caesura

Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-7 by Latin poet Virgil

1 Arma vi rumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
2 Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
3 Litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
4 Vi superum saevae memorem lunonis ob iram;
5 multa quoque et bello passus, dum onderet urbem,
6 inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
7 Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.

The translation of Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-7 from Latin to English

1 I sing of arms and a man, who first came from the shores of Troy
2 To Italy, and Lavina shores exile by fate
3 Having been tossed about much both on lands and the deep
4 By the might of those above on account of the unforgotten anger of harsh Juno
5 And also having suffered much in war; until he should found a city,
6 And carrying the gods to Latium from whence came the Latin Race,
7 And the Alban fathers, and the walls of high Rome.

Click on this link for the continuation

Comments on Univocalic Poetry

2010-11-21T02:05:00.000-08:00

In Barbados there is this Westminster System of Parliament with a two-party system: The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) commonly known as the "Bees" and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) referred to as the "Dems". The Peoples Progressive Party (PeePeePee) has yet to be recognized as a party. This movement was formed by a member of the Democratic Labour Party who broke ranks to form this pressure movement. Members of this movement contest elections on an Independent ticket.

This party-switching or crossing the floor has taken place in the Parliamentary System of Government in Barbados in the past and most recently in this 21st Century. In Barbadian politics, crossing the floor means to leave one's political party and join another, or in more general sense, to vote against one's own party. Party-switching is the term most used in American politics, and means any change in party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one who is currently holding elected office; and connotes a transfer of held power from one party to another. In the United States' dominant two-party system, the switches generally occur between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, although the archives have revealed that there have also been a number of notable switches to and from third parties, and even between third parties. Documented party switchers in modern era politics of the United States show that the majority of switchers came from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the deep South. In New England, the Great Lakes states, and the coastal states switched from Republican Party to the Democratic Party.

Why do politicians abandon their loyalty even though they expect such from voters? When we look at the behavior of global political establishments their politicians behave in similar fashion as far as crossing the floor or party switching. Crossing the floor originated from the British House of Commons which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches as shown in the graphic image below.

Government Members Opposition Members

If a politician wishes to vote against the affiliated party that politician would need to literally cross the floor to get to the other lobby and if the Member of Parliament was to switch a party that MP would need to cross the floor.

Politicians who cross the floor or switch parties would have the populace believe that they did so from an ethical obligation, because they feel their views are no longer aligned with those of their current party. Some politicians cross the floor or switch their party for an opportunistic reason but they wouldn’t say it that way. The opportunistic politician usually belongs to a minority party and would cross the floor to join the majority party to gain the advantages of belonging to such a party. However, the most important reason why politicians switch or ditch their party is “to get elected". In your neck of the woods I'm sure you know or read about politicians who have crossed the floor or have switched their parties. In British political history, Winston Churchill crossed the floor from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Party then crossed back to the Conservative Party.

That being said, I tend to believe that politicians share common characteristics: they expect absolute loyalty from voters at the polls, and think ceaselessly about the next election cycle. An example of a notable switch in Barbadian politics is Sir Errol Walton Barrow for much nobler causes, for which his legacy has given much reasons to rejoice as we celebrate forty-four year of Independence. His legacy has peeled away the narcissistic clock that tends to dog politicians for a true Statesmanship robe. We are so very proud of the contributions made by the "Father of our Independence". His stewardship has revealed, that as an elected officer, he fervently thought about the generations to come, and placed certain mechanisms in place which the now generations enjoy, and for which previous generations had no such good fortune. A fixation on the next election cycle was not his forte and that showed the true mark of a statesman; the highest rank in the political arena. Sir Errol Walton Barrow, the statesman did this as he captained the "Ship of State" during his lifetime.

This crossing of the floor phenomenon provided the inspiration to write these two poems "Dems Bees” and "Yes, Yes, Yes”. The composition took place in the parish of St James South, Barbados on September 15, 2007 during the 'silly season' when Barbadians were gearing up for their General Election show down by the Barbados Labour Party (The Bees), the Barbados Democratic Party (The Dems) and the Peoples Progressive Party (PeePeePee). In my bag of "constrained writing" you would have read alphabetic poetry written in forms such as the Acrostic, Abecedarian, Diastic, Mesostich, and Telestich. This latest insertion in the bag of "constrained writing" takes the form of Univocalic poetry. Of course, there are many other forms of constrained writing in poetry but the comments here only touched on a few such types. So what is constrained writing.

Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. This technique is very popular in poetry which often requires the poet to use a particular verse form.

The language of English has five vowels: a e i o u. I'm thinking now of a special type of constrained poetic writing that uses only one vowel-letter, i.e. only uses one of these vowels: a e i o u. It is called Univocalic Poetry. C C Bombaugh in 1890 wrote one of the best known Univocalic that used only the vowel "o". Here is an excerpt from Bombaugh's poetry:

No cool monsoon bow on Oxford dons,
Orthodox, jog-trot, bookworm Solomons

Eunoia is Univocalic poetry written by the Canadian poet, Christian Bok. This poetry book emerged at the beginning of the 21st Century. In Chapter I for Dick Higgins all the lines use only the vowel "i" as shown in the excerpt below.

Writing is inhibiting. Sighing, I sit, scribbling in Ink
This pidgin script. I sing with nihilistic witticism,
Disciplining signs with trifling gimmicks - impish
Hijinks which highlight stick sigils. Isn't it glib?

The poems, "Dems Bees" and “Yes Yes Yes" are Univocalic poetry that make use only of the vowel "e" that jabs at Barbadian politics.

Comments on "Felony before Terror"

2010-11-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

The poem “Felony before Terror” is written in the form of a Double Acrostic Mesostich. It was composed on August 6, 2009 at Cassia Drive, Barbados.

The title of the poem is made up of three words. Acrostics were form from the first and last words in the title and the Mesostich from the middle word in the title. The Acrostic appears on the left and right sides of the poem’s lines of verses and the Mesostich at the middle point of these same lines of verses. This poem is made up of fifty-seven words with a syllable count of eighty-five as shown in the three-column table below.

Right Side                                        Middle point      Left Side

Fires on bush put                             brave                  those souls to the test
5 syllables                                          1 syllable             5 syllables   = 11 syllables
(4 words)                                          (1 word)                 (5 words)      (10 words)

eager suicide bombers                     everywhere      minds overflow with evil
7 syllables                                         3 syllables            7 syllables   = 17 syllables
(3 words)                                           (1 word)                (4 words)       (8 words)

leaving plenty dreadful acts to        fall                          in the snow and thunderous rain;
8 syllables                                        1 syllable                8 syllables   = 17 syllables
(5 words)                                         (1 word)                 (6 words)      (12 words)

obstructing the rightful                     ownership                comes from those angry rogues
6 syllables                                           3 syllables                6 syllables   = 15 syllables
(3 words)                                             (1 word)                    (5 words       (9 words)

nagging, in demonic                         reckless                    mindset does overflow
6 syllables                                        2 sylables                 6 syllables    = 14 syllables
(3 words)                                           (1 word)                   (3 words)          (7 words)

year-round, CIA                              eyes                           sieve through tuff rumors
5 syllables                                        1 syllable                   5 syllables      = 11 syllables
(5 words)                                       (1 word)                    (4 words)             10 words

For guidelines on how to write the Double Acrostic click on this link and for the Mesostich guidelines click on this link.

Comments on Mowing

2010-10-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

This Mesostich poem “Mowing” was written on April 21, 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The Mesostich is a variation of the Acrostic form. When the first letters of the middle words on each line of verse in a poem form the word or message relating to the subject a Mesostich poem is created.

This short poem entitled “Mowing” is made up of forty-four words with a syllable count of fifty-two. The bars in Chart 1 represent the number of words or syllables in each line of verse of the poem, and the vertical bars show where the middle point in each line of verse begins.

Chart 1(a)

Right>>>>>>>>> Middle>>>>>>>>> Left
Side >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Side

>>>>>>>>> - - - - │morn│ - - - -
>>>>>>>>>> 4 >>> 1 >> 4 >>>>>>>> /9 syllables
>>>>>>>>>> 4 >>> 1 >> 2 >>>>>>>>/7 words

>>>>>>>>- - - >>>│on │ - - -
>>>>>>>> 3 >>>>> 1 >>>3 >>>>>>> /7 syllables
>>>>>>>> 2 >>>>> 1 >>>2 >>>>>>>>/5 words

>>>>>>> - - - ->>>│waved│ - - - -
>>>>>>>> 4>>>>>> 1 >>>4 >>>>>>>/9 syllables
>>>>>>>> 3 >>>>>>1 >>>4 >>>>>>>/8 words

>>>>>>>>>>>- - - -│ in│ - - - -
>>>>>>>>4 >>>>>> 1 >>>>4>>>>>>> /9 syllables
>>>>>>>>4 >>>>>> 1 >>>>4>>>>>>> /9 words

>>>>>>>- - - - - - - │never│ - - - - - - -
>>>>>>>>4 >>>>>> 2 >>>> 4 >>>>>>/10 syllables
>>>>>>>>3 >>>>>>1 >>>> 2 >>>>>>/ 6 words

>>>>>>>>>>>- - - -│green│ - - - -
>>>>>>>>4 >>>>>>1 >>>4 >>>>>>/9 syllables
>>>>>>>>4 >>>>>>1 >>>4 >>>>>>/9 syllables

The syllable count of words for each line of verse was found so as to locate the central point of the line of verse, from which to start the Mesostich. What is a syllable?

In the English Language, the vowels are (a, e, i, o, u) so a syllable is the sound of a vowel that is created when pronouncing a word. The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel in a word is equal to the number of syllables the word has.

Spotting Syllables

Count the number of vowels (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y) in the word.
Subtract any silent vowels (for example: the silent 'e' at the end of a word). Subtract 1 vowel from every diphthong. A diphthong is when two vowels make only 1 sound (for example: oi, oy, ou, ow, au, aw, oo, like in the words boil, toy, saw, cow, moon, mouth...). The number you are left with should be the number of vowels in the word.

Dividing a word into Syllables

Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes, and root words that have vowels. For example: houseboat (house/boat) unhappy (un/happy) prepaid (pre/paid) rewrite (re/write) farmer (farm/er), hopeless (hope/less)

Divide between two middle consonants. (For example: un/hap/py, hap/pens, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner). Never split up consonant digraphs “th”, “sh”, “ph”, “th”, “ch”, and “wh”) as they really represent only one sound.

Usually divide before a single consonant. For example: o/pen, i/tem, e/vil, re/port. The only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has an obvious short sound, as in “rob/in”.

Divide before an “-le” syllable. For example: a/ble, fum/ble, rub/ble, mum/ble. The only exceptions are “ckle” words like “pick/le”.

Here are some guidelines to help you compose your first Mesostich poem:

Firstly, make the decision as to what style you will write the Mesostich; whether in the traditional form or in Free Verse

Select a title for the Mesostich. Let’s say you selected the title “Luck”. Determine how many syllables will be featured in each line of verse. Locate the center point for each line of verse as shown below. This graphic representation will guide you through the composition process. Bear in mind that the Mesostich starts at the middle-point of each line of verse.

............ Mesostich .............
.................... l ....................
.................... u ....................
.................... c ....................
.................... k ....................

Start composing the poem, and be mindful that the word at the center of the first line of verse begins with the first letter of the poem’s title (in this example) with the letter “l”.

At the center of the second line of verse begin with the second letter of the poem’s title (in this example) with the letter “u”.

At the center of the third line of verse, begin with the third letter of the poem’s title (in this example) with the letter “c”.

At the center of the fourth line of verse, begin with the fourth letter of the poem’s title (in this example) with the letter “k”.

You can follow these procedures for any word in the title selected that has less than four letters or more than four letters when composing your Mesostich poem.

Read your completed poem aloud, check for errors and correct any errors found.

Comments on Haiti's Holler

2010-10-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

The recording of the date, time and place when a poem is completed does matter. In so doing, this helps when the poem undergoes critical analysis. That being said, I composed this poem “Haiti’s Holler” in Double Acrostic on May 20, 2010 at Cassia Drive, Husbands Terrace, St. James South, Barbados. Click on this Link for guidelines for writing a Double Acrostic poem. Much grieving, bewilderment and sadness still blanketed folks as daily news unfolded through all kinds of media and graphic pictures fed the eyes of those daring to look at such. This poem reflects some of the moods and moves at that time that drew attention to natural disasters and dire consequences when Mother Nature retaliates from years of plundering and scraping of her intestines to satisfy corporate greed.

The title of this poem is very explicit as it rolls itself into the first lines of verses one recognizes that the explicit point to the earthquake that unleashed its fury on Haiti. On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 an earthquake of a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw, occurred in Haiti. Its epicentre was near the town of Léogâne approximately 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the Capital of Haiti. By January 24, 2010 reports stated that at least fifty-two aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake; the Haitian Government reported that an estimated 230,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. The earthquake caused major damage in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. Hédi Annabi.

Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed with many tens of thousands of bodies having to be buried in mass graves. On January 22, 2010 the United Nations noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on January 23, 2010 the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.

Ten months after the earthquake struck Haiti, life is returning to normal but at a snail's pace. As at the writing of this, a new wave of destruction has swept over what is left in Haiti; the deadly scourge of cholera has broken out and has claimed hundreds of lives.

The fifth line of verse in this poem alludes to the sequence of events that fell from Iceland Eyjafyallajökull volcano. This seismic activity increased on March 20, 2010 and continued on to April 14, 2010 and into May. The Eyjafyallajökull volcano ejected into the air an estimated 250 million cubic metres of tephra. The ash plume rose to a height of approximately 30, 000 ft (9 kilometres) which rates the explosive power of the eruption as a 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. The behaviour of the Eyjafyallajökull volcano caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe due to the ash mist that blackened skies and was so reluctant to move away. According to reports, due to the large quantities of dry volcanic ash lying on the ground, surface winds frequently lifted up an "ash mist" that significantly reduced visibility and made observation of the activity of the volcano through web camera impossible.

The last line verse of the poem strikes a familiar chord that everywhere around the globe disaster shows its unwanted head on a chain of events natural or man-made. The closing line of verse points to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill which is referred to by such names as the BP Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, BP Oil Disaster and the Macondo Blowout. This oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico flowed for three months in 2010. It started on April 20, 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded killing eleven workers and injured seventeen others. On July 15, 2010 the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead after releasing into the Gulf of Mexico and estimated 53, 000 barrels per day of crude oil. On September 19, 2010 the relief well process was successfully completed and the Federal Government of the United States of America declared the well "effectively dead" but with far reaching consequences.

The oil spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats; as well as to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. Skimmer ships, floating containment booms, anchored barriers, and sand-filled barricades along shorelines were used in an attempt to protect hundreds of miles of beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil. Scientists have also reported immense underwater plumes of dissolved oil not visible at the surface. The United States Government has named British Petroleum (BP) as the responsible party, and officials have committed to holding the company accountable for all cleanup costs and other damage. After its own internal probe, BP admitted that it made mistakes which led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has become the largest in United States of America's history.

Comments on Roses

2010-10-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

This poem "Roses" was composed at my parents' home at Checker Hall, St. Lucy, Barbados on September 21, 2003. So inspired was I at the rose bushes growing outside my window, I had to write this short poem in Acrostic. I thought that the Double Acrostic would be perfect in reflecting the fact that one rose bush was blooming with red roses and the other with roses white as milk.

The Double Acrostic uses the first letters of words at the beginning of line verses and the first letters of words at the end of line verses to spell out the title of the poem. The rules that shape the formation of the Double Acrostic is shown in the graphic map below.

Beginning of line of Verses>>>>>____________________ End of line of Verses
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rainbow is the hope we gladly do Recall

The content of all forms of Acrostic poetry should tell something about the encrypted mesage. It should convey prase on people, cities, objects,events, and so on.

Here are some guidelines on writing a Double Acrostic poem:

Firstly, decide on whether the poem will be in metered verses or free-verse. Select a Title for your Double Acrosic poem. Start composing the first line of verse for the poem.

At the beginning of the first line of verse, begin the first letter of the first word with the first letter in the Title. Continue on this same line of verse and end this line of verse with a word whose first letter begins with the first letter in the Title.

Compose the second line of verse for the poem. At the beginning of the second line of verse, begin the first letter of the first word with the second letter in the Title. Continue on this same line of verse and end this line of verse with a word whose first letter begines with the second letter in the Title.

Continue on this process until you have used all the letters in the Title. So for example, if your title has six letters as in "Violet" your Double Acrostic will have six lines of verses. Read your completed poem aloud and correct any errors found.

Comments on Diastic Poetry

2010-10-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

With Reference to the Poems:
“Major Concern for Squatters, Major Concern”
“Squatters’ Paradise”
“Poor Squalors”

These Diastic poems are egoless and deterministic arrangements that use Diastic reading-through procedure. I wrote these poems sitting under the Barbados Cherry Tree at the back of my home on Cassia Drive, Husbands Terrace, St. James South, Barbados. The first two on September 14, 2007 and “Poor” on September 15, 2007; and thinking about the time, that’s three years after the death of Jackson Mac Low, the inventor of the Diastic reading-through method procedures. This method came about after Jackson had experimented with the computer-automated text selection program developed by the poet Charles Hartman in the late 1980s. Jackson Mac Low has used various versions of the computer-automated text selection program since 1989 in his poetry.

Diastic is a word Mac Low coined by fusing Greek words “dia” (meaning through) “stichos” (a line of writing, a verse and is contrasted to “acrostic” from “akros”) “Akros” an extreme, such as a letter at the beginning or end of a verse line. Here is how Jackson Mac Low described his Diastic method. The writer reads through the Source Text and successively finds words or other linguistic units that have the letters of the Seed Text in positions that correspond to those they occupy in the Seed Text. I used this technique when writing the poems, “Major Concern for Squatters, Major Concern” shown in Exhibit 2(a); “Squatters Paradise” shown in Exhibit 3(a) and “Poor" shown in Exhibit 4(a).

The Source Text for the poem “Major Concern for Squatters, Major Concern” is shown in Exhibit 2(b) with the words that have the letters of the Seed Text in positions that correspond to those occupied in the Seed Text emboldened.

Exhibit 2(a)
(SEED TEXT)
Major >> Concern > for >>Squatters, >> Major >> Concern
12345 >>1234567 >123>>123456789>>12345>>>1234567

Move days adjacent into water chemicals for many forced therefore
Oldbury residence
for housing
garbage
status squatters
squatters squat
palatable squatters squatters transformation solutions
Morning same adjacent into water country’s most manufacturing
purchase spite authorities
opinion

Exhibit 2(b)
SOURCE TEXT

Article from the Daily Newspaper

The front page story of the Nation on July 18 highlighted that some squatters had been given enforcement notice to move from Oldbury and this was followed by another article, two days later, by the same newspaper, on squatters mushrooming in a "Zone 1" area adjacent to Blenheim. In the latter case, the water course runs into the Belle aqueduct and is then pumped to most of our reservoirs by the Belle pumping station. I compliment the newspaper for highlighting this problem relating to water region which is now likely to become a health hazard. I say this because the water table in the Belle is the country's most precious source; and Barbados is dependent on this to supply our nationals, our livestock, our tourism and our manufacturing industries. The purity of the water must not be compromised if we are to survive physically and economically. If we know that contamination of or water supply would be irresponsible and not immediately reversible, why not be strict with our regulations? It urgently becomes necessary for the responsible powers (if there is such) to arrest this modality which is increasing and being ignored by the policing powers. On the other side of the coin, Barbados now finds itself with a problem where persons who want to improve their social status and would like to own a residence, are unable to purchase the relevant entities. Most of them opt for the less expensive option of becoming squatters with minimal overheads. There is an urgency associated with their need for housing; and this cannot be ignored. This is similar to a revolt since their actions continue and are being done in full view of everyone and without fear of being caught in spite of the item being highlighted in our daily newspaper. It would be a wise move if such signals are not ignored by the authorities but are acted upon before it develops into a genuine social revolt as erupted in 1937.

The article of 20th July states that the residents have either water or electricity but this is not true for all of them. Some of the installations of utilities were done (in my personal opinion) much faster than for non-squatters. There still has to be concern about the disposal of faeces, other waste products, collection of garbage, use of chemicals to control weeds and pollution that occur as the population density increases. This increase in numbers is inevitable especially when others requiring similar commodities realize that no action will be taken to arrest the potential disastrous circumstance in the Belle. I would like therefore to, enquire on the status and requirements needed to build in this area as I do not believe our Town & Country Planning Department should/would allow such circumstances to prevail. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the squatters' goals of wanting to have their own home but should this be done at the detriment of our water resource which can ruin our economy if/when it affects any (if not all) of our sectors. This type of venture needs to be regulated. I will conclude with this quote from the July 22 SUNDAY SUN article One World which gives the social studies panacea: "At first, a few violate the social norms, but as more people violate them, the actions become the norm."

Government's adviser on eradicating poverty, made this plea yesterday in the wake of notices the Town Planning Department sent to several squatters in Oldbury,St Philip to move on. “To bring the bulldozers in and uproot so many persons at one time is inhumane and not in sync with Government's commitment to help the poorest of the poor," told the SATURDAY SUN "I am not one to encourage people to squat, but it would be sociological madness, pure and simple, just to uproot them like that, to send in the bulldozers and lick down their houses. "There must be a more palatable solution, there must be a more humane solution." Adviser said Government needed to "sit down and talk" with Oldbury's more than 60 squatters to find practical solutions, which could include "regularizing" their status or helping them to find alternative sites. "You just can't wake up one morning and give people notice to move like that, especially people who have been living on the same spot for many years," the former Adviser of Social Transformation argued. "I have talked to some of these people and I know that in that 28-day period more than half of those people will not be able to find alternative sites.

"The irony of it is that many of these same people now facing the threat of being pushed off the land would have applied to the National Housing Corporation many years ago for a house-spot or a unit to rent and never heard one word from the NHC." The Member of Parliament charged that the NHC, by its inability to respond adequately to the vast demand for low-income housing "solutions", and a short-sighted state building program that failed to anticipate that Government units would be "bursting at the seams" within two decades of being built, were partly to blame for some of the squatting. "You think there is only squatting in Oldbury and The Belle? There is squatting in almost all Government housing schemes, where people are adding on to the original structures to accommodate family and close friends,". "When you are building, you have to build with a vision; you have to build with a plan for the future, but the people responsible for construction of a lot of the Government units, especially those in The Pine, never foresaw that within two decades you would have massive overcrowding there."In some cases we have 14 to 16 people living in one small two-bedroom unit and sharing one toilet. They have to sleep on the chairs, they have to sleep on the ground, some have to sleep close to the toilet." These people found themselves between a rock and a hard place, forced to endure such conditions at home or to venture out to squat because they could not get land or houses to rent or buy. "Therefore Government has to make houses available in a massive way to the poorest of the poor," he added. He said in the case of The Belle, a vital source of water for Barbadians, the solution might lie in establishing a waste treatment plant and allowing the squatters to stay. "It is time to stop the talk and get on with the job," he added. (TY)

The Source Text for the poem “Squatters Paradise” is shown in Exhibit 3(b) with the words that have the letters of the Seed Text in positions that correspond to those occupied in the Seed Text emboldened.

Exhibit 3(a)
SEED TEXT

Squatters’>> Paradise
1 2 3 4 5 6 789 >>>> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Same aqueduct country’s modality entities
caught genuine squatters’ solutions
People same Parliament demand building bursting decades purchase
squatters
Squatters Studies panacea
first
violate Squatters Squatters’ solutions

Page nation our
relating would policing signals increase squatters squatters squatters
squat
might industries
survive necessary overheads
Personal taken arrest disastrous world solution
schemes
continue

Exhibit 3(b)
SOURCE TEXT

Article from the Daily Newspaper

The front page story of the Nation on July 18 highlighted that some squatters had been given enforcement notice to move from Oldbury and this was followed by another article, two days later, by the same newspaper, on squatters mushrooming in a "Zone 1" area adjacent to Blenheim. In the latter case, the water course runs into the Belle aqueduct and is then pumped to most of our reservoirs by the Belle pumping station. I compliment the newspaper for highlighting this problem relating to water region which is now likely to become a health hazard. I say this because the water table in the Belle is the country's most precious source; and Barbados is dependent on this to supply our nationals, our livestock, our tourism and our manufacturing industries. The purity of the water must not be compromised if we are to survive physically and economically. If we know that contamination of or water supply would be irresponsible and not immediately reversible, why not be strict with our regulations? It urgently becomes necessary for the responsible powers (if there is such) to arrest this modality which is increasing and being ignored by the policing powers. On the other side of the coin, Barbados now finds itself with a problem where persons who want to improve their social status and would like to own a residence, are unable to purchase the relevant entities. Most of them opt for the less expensive option of becoming squatters with minimal overheads. There is an urgency associated with their need for housing; and this cannot be ignored. This is similar to a revolt since their actions continue and are being done in full view of everyone and without fear of being caught in spite of the item being highlighted in our daily newspaper. It would be a wise move if such signals are not ignored by the authorities but are acted upon before it develops into a genuine social revolt as erupted in 1937.

The article of 20th July states that the residents have either water or electricity but this is not true for all of them. Some of the installations of utilities were done (in my personal opinion) much faster than for non-squatters. There still has to be concern about the disposal of feces, other waste products, collection of garbage, use of chemicals to control weeds and pollution that occur as the population density increases. This increase in numbers is inevitable especially when others requiring similar commodities realize that no action will be taken to arrest the potential disastrous circumstance in the Belle. I would like therefore to, enquire on the status and requirements needed to build in this area as I do not believe our Town & Country Planning Department should/would allow such circumstances to prevail. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the squatters' goals of wanting to have their own home but should this be done at the detriment of our water resource which can ruin our economy if/when it affects any (if not all) of our sectors. This type of venture needs to be regulated. I will conclude with this quote from the July 22 SUNDAY SUN article One World which gives the social studies panacea: "At first, a few violate the social norms, but as more people violate them, the actions become the norm."

Government's adviser on eradicating poverty, made this plea yesterday in the wake of notices the Town Planning Department sent to several squatters in Oldbury, St Philip to move on. “To bring the bulldozers in and uproot so many persons at one time is inhumane and not in sync with Government's commitment to help the poorest of the poor," told the SATURDAY SUN "I am not one to encourage people to squat, but it would be sociological madness, pure and simple, just to uproot them like that, to send in the bulldozers and lick down their houses.” There must be a more palatable solution; there must be a more humane solution." Adviser said Government needed to "sit down and talk" with Oldbury's more than 60 squatters to find practical solutions, which could include "regularizing" their status or helping them to find alternative sites. "You just can't wake up one morning and give people notice to move like that, especially people who have been living on the same spot for many years," the former Adviser of Social Transformation argued. "I have talked to some of these people and I know that in that 28-day period more than half of those people will not be able to find alternative sites. "The irony of it is that many of these same people now facing the threat of being pushed off the land would have applied to the National Housing Corporation many years ago for a house-spot or a unit to rent and never heard one word from the NHC."

The Member of Parliament charged that the NHC, by its inability to respond adequately to the vast demand for low-income housing "solutions", and a short-sighted state building program that failed to anticipate that Government units would be "bursting at the seams" within two decades of being built, were partly to blame for some of the squatting. "You think there is only squatting in Oldbury and The Belle? There is squatting in almost all Government housing schemes, where people are adding on to the original structures to accommodate family and close friends,". "When you are building, you have to build with a vision, you have to build with a plan for the future, but the people responsible for construction of a lot of the Government units, especially those in The Pine, never foresaw that within two decades you would have massive overcrowding there."In some cases we have 14 to 16 people living in one small two-bedroom unit and sharing one toilet. They have to sleep on the chairs, they have to sleep on the ground, some have to sleep close to the toilet."

These people found themselves between a rock and a hard place, forced to endure such conditions at home or to venture out to squat because they could not get land or houses to rent or buy. "Therefore Government has to make houses available in a massive way to the poorest of the poor," he added. He said in the case of The Belle, a vital source of water for Barbadians, the solution might lie in establishing a waste treatment plant and allowing the squatters to stay. "It is time to stop the talk and get on with the job," he added. (TY)

Exhibit 4(a)
SEED TEXT

Poor> Squalors
1234>12345678

Page some another course
Station
squatters housing
disastrous should opinion
advisor Oldbury

Persons poorest poor
regularizing status quote
squatters squat simple
bulldozers regularizing Barbados

Exhibit 4(b)
SOURCE TEXT

Article from the Daily Newspaper

The front page story of the Nation on July 18 highlighted that some squatters had been given enforcement notice to move from Oldbury and this was followed by another article, two days later, by the same newspaper, on squatters mushrooming in a "Zone 1" area adjacent to Blenheim. In the latter case, the water course runs into the Belle aqueduct and is then pumped to most of our reservoirs by the Belle pumping station. I compliment the newspaper for highlighting this problem relating to water region which is now likely to become a health hazard. I say this because the water table in the Belle is the country's most precious source; and Barbados is dependent on this to supply our nationals, our livestock, our tourism and our manufacturing industries. The purity of the water must not be compromised if we are to survive physically and economically. If we know that contamination of or water supply would be irresponsible and not immediately reversible, why not be strict with our regulations? It urgently becomes necessary for the responsible powers (if there is such) to arrest this modality which is increasing and being ignored by the policing powers. On the other side of the coin, Barbados now finds itself with a problem where persons who want to improve their social status and would like to own a residence, are unable to purchase the relevant entities. Most of them opt for the less expensive option of becoming squatters with minimal overheads. There is an urgency associated with their need for housing; and this cannot be ignored. This is similar to a revolt since their actions continue and are being done in full view of everyone and without fear of being caught in spite of the item being highlighted in our daily newspaper. It would be a wise move if such signals are not ignored by the authorities but are acted upon before it develops into a genuine social revolt as erupted in 1937.

The article of 20th July states that the residents have either water or electricity but this is not true for all of them. Some of the installations of utilities were done (in my personal opinion) much faster than for non-squatters. There still has to be concern about the disposal of feces, other waste products, collection of garbage, use of chemicals to control weeds and pollution that occur as the population density increases. This increase in numbers is inevitable especially when others requiring similar commodities realize that no action will be taken to arrest the potential disastrous circumstance in the Belle. I would like therefore to, enquire on the status and requirements needed to build in this area as I do not believe our Town & Country Planning Department should/would allow such circumstances to prevail. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the squatters' goals of wanting to have their own home but should this be done at the detriment of our water resource which can ruin our economy if/when it affects any (if not all) of our sectors. This type of venture needs to be regulated. I will conclude with this quote from the July 22 SUNDAY SUN article One World which gives the social studies panacea: "At first, a few violate the social norms, but as more people violate them, the actions become the norm." Government's adviser on eradicating poverty, made this plea yesterday in the wake of notices the Town Planning Department sent to several squatters in Oldbury, St Philip to move on. “To bring the bulldozers in and uproot so many persons at one time is inhumane and not in sync with Government's commitment to help the poorest of the poor," told the SATURDAY SUN "I am not one to encourage people to squat, but it would be sociological madness, pure and simple, just to uproot them like that, to send in the bulldozers and lick down their houses.”

There must be a more palatable solution; there must be a more humane solution." Adviser said Government needed to "sit down and talk" with Oldbury's more than 60 squatters to find practical solutions, which could include "regularizing" their status or helping them to find alternative sites. "You just can't wake up one morning and give people notice to move like that, especially people who have been living on the same spot for many years," the former Adviser of Social Transformation argued. "I have talked to some of these people and I know that in that 28-day period more than half of those people will not be able to find alternative sites. "The irony of it is that many of these same people now facing the threat of being pushed off the land would have applied to the National Housing Corporation many years ago for a house-spot or a unit to rent and never heard one word from the NHC."

The Member of Parliament charged that the NHC, by its inability to respond adequately to the vast demand for low-income housing "solutions", and a short-sighted state building program that failed to anticipate that Government units would be "bursting at the seams" within two decades of being built, were partly to blame for some of the squatting. "You think there is only squatting in Oldbury and The Belle? There is squatting in almost all Government housing schemes, where people are adding on to the original structures to accommodate family and close friends,". "When you are building, you have to build with a vision, you have to build with a plan for the future, but the people responsible for construction of a lot of the Government units, especially those in The Pine, never foresaw that within two decades you would have massive overcrowding there."In some cases we have 14 to 16 people living in one small two-bedroom unit and sharing one toilet. They have to sleep on the chairs, they have to sleep on the ground, some have to sleep close to the toilet."

These people found themselves between a rock and a hard place, forced to endure such conditions at home or to venture out to squat because they could not get land or houses to rent or buy. "Therefore Government has to make houses available in a massive way to the poorest of the poor," he added. He said in the case of The Belle, a vital source of water for Barbadians, the solution might lie in establishing a waste treatment plant and allowing the squatters to stay. "It is time to stop the talk and get on with the job," he added. (TY)

Here are some guidelines on how to create your Diastic poem using the Diastic reading-through method developed by Jackson Mac Low.

Select a Source Text from any type of reading matter you prefer. Read it through from the beginning to the end to get an understanding of what is written in the Source Text.

Select a Title-phrase (Jackson Mac Low referred to the Theme or Title as the Title-phrase) from what you have just read for your Seed Text. Let’s suppose you selected as your Title-phrase is “Copiapo Miners”.

Locate the position each letter in the Title-phrase holds, that is, which letter is first, second and so as shown in the example being used here and shown below

Copiapo Miners
1234567>123456

C > 1 .......... M >>> 1
o > 2 .......... i >>>>2
p > 3 .......... n >>>>3
I > 4 .......... e >>>>4
a > 5 .......... r >>>>5
p > 6 .......... s >>>>6
o > 7

Read through the Source Text again but this time look successively for words or other linguistic units that have the letters of the Seed Text in positions that correspond to those they occupy in the Seed Text. Keep reading until you find a word whose second letter has the same as the second letter in the Title-phrase, then a word whose third letter matches, and so on as shown in the example below. The matching seeds in the Source Text are emboldened.

Seed Text
Copiapo > Miners
1 2 3 45 67 >>>> 1 23 4 5 6

Copiapo Jose
copper-gold Copiapo
collapsed
accomplished
More billion mine miners metres CLDT
good expected silicosis
dental Copiapo Copiapo

Men miners miner
more miners metres

Source Text

The 2010 Copiapó mining accident occurred on 5 August 2010, when part of the San José copper-gold mine near Copiapó, Chile collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped deep below ground. The miners survived underground for a record 68 to 69 days. All 33 were rescued and brought to the surface on 13 October 2010, with the first miner emerging from the Fénix 2 rescue capsule at 00:10 CLDT and the last at 21:55 CLDT. After the last trapped miner was winched to the surface, the rescue workers held up a sign stating "Misión cumplida Chile" (English: Mission accomplished Chile) to the estimated more than 1 billion people watching the rescue on live television around the world.
The San José Mine is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) north of Copiapó, in northern Chile. The miners were trapped at approximately 700 meters (2,300 ft) deep and about 5 kilometres (3 mi) from the mine entrance. The mine had a history of instability that had led to previous accidents, including one death.
The retrieval of the first miner, Florencio Ávalos, began on Tuesday, 12 October at 23:55 CLDT, with the rescue capsule reaching the surface 16 minutes later. By 21:55 CLDT on 13 October, all 33 miners had been rescued, almost all in good medical condition, and expected to recover fully. Two miners were suffering from silicosis, one of whom also had pneumonia, and others were suffering from dental infections and corneal problems. Three of the rescued miners had immediate surgery under general anaesthetic for dental problems.
The total cost of the rescue operation was estimated between US$10–20 million, a third covered by private donations with the rest coming from state-owned mining corporation Codelco and the government itself.

If at any point you reach the end of the text, go back and continue from the beginning.
When a word is followed by a punctuation mark or ends a line in the Source Text, the line ends in the generated text (Seed Text). For example, comma appears after “Capiapo” and that is why a line break appears after it in the Seed Text poem.

Read through you completed Diastic poem aloud and correct any errors found.

Comments on No Friendly Sky Anymore

2010-10-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

The poem “No Friendly Sky Anymore” is egoless and deterministic designed by using the Acrostic reading-through procedure. This poem was completed on October 16, 2010 in the comfort of my modest home at Husbands Terrace, St. James South, Barbados.

Why do I describe this poem as egoless?

Egoless poetry is just what it is…not egocentric. Poets from the western tradition use objects as a mode to express their intellectual sentiments using a variety of poetic devices. Looking at a field of growing okras, the poet would never say, for example “okras are in bloom ready to be harvested” or in some other simple way, but will use imagery sensors to plant images in the mind’s eye of readers by probably saying “okras are pregnant from the electrifying rays of the sun, the pattering rain gleefully massaging their feet in sodden shoes with the whispering sounds of the wind in their thanksgiving dance”. So, instead of calling a spade a spade, poets from the western tradition make use of various poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, personification and symbolism for their embellishment fix. These various poetic techniques allow these poets to inject themselves within the composition whether directly or through the “voice” or persona assigned to articulate the muse.

Egoless poetry thrives on the concept of Zen that espouses the idea that objects should be seen in their true nature and not be distorted for one’s own self-centered gratification. This overarching use of romanticism in poetry is what propels egotistic gratification. Egoless poetry would have none of that thus avoiding the use of “self” or “I” in any form or fashion in its chance or deterministic creations. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that poetry embellishment is a bad idea. On the contrary, I cannot imagine myself feasting on poetry without its seasoning and garnishes. Do you? As a side-dish, to balance the diet, egoless poetry rises to the occasion by not putting the poet as the centre of gravity but rather as a by-stander.

Egoless poetry is to be found in Japanese forms of poetry such as the Haiku and Senyru and in the poetry of the American poet, performance artist, composer and playwright Jackson Mac Low.

Why Jackson Mac Low described his poetry as “Deterministic”?

Mac Low never referred to his poetry as “chance” poetry although other readers of his poetry did. The Dada movement of Western Europe the early and middle years of the last century in such writers as Louis Aragon and Tristan Tzara, just to mention a couple Dadaists described their creations as “chance” poetry because they used chance operations to create their poetry. It is a method of generating poetry independent of the poet’s will. A “chance operation” can be almost anything like throwing the dice, bingo or using the computer. Most poems created by chance operations use some form of “parent text” as their source. The source can be a clipping from the newspaper, magazine, poem or whatever. The purpose behind this approach is to play against the poet’s intentions and ego, while creating unusual syntax and images. The resulting poems allow the reader to take part in producing meaning from the work.

Even though Jackson Mac Low’s egoless poetry relied on a Parent Text to populate the Seed Text with his two methods, namely the Diastic reading-through procedure and the Acrostic reading-through procedure and his knowledge of the workings of computer programs that gave much inspiration he never described his creations as Chance poetry although Chance poetry uses similar platforms. He insistently referred to his brand of poetry as “deterministic” because of his use of “matched asymmetries”.

What is there to uncover about Jackson Mac Low’s brand of poetry?

With a clear understanding of computer-based applications and the knack for modifying those to suit his person Mac Low created two approaches to writing his deterministic poetry swimming in the egoless sea. A cursory analysis of his poetic creations suggests that he was not seeking answers to aleatoric and egoless forms of poetry. He was more concerned with experimenting with the various forms of computerized application programs to find out what would be the outcome when a particular algorithm was introduced into poetry. His focus was to empirically invent techniques of artistic production meeting certain criteria. The outcome of this experiment in poetry is found in two methods he created: Acrostic reading-through non-intentional text-selection procedures known as the “Acrostic method” and the Diastic reading-through non-intentional text-selection procedures known as “Diastic poetry”. These two methods rely on a Source Text and a Seed Text. He employed these poetry generation techniques from April 1960 until January 1963. No doubt with the widespread use of computers in this 21st century his poetic technique has the potential of reaching even greater heights in modernistic poetry.

Here is how Mac Low described his Acrostic Method of deterministic poetry. The writer reads through a Source Text and finds successively words, phrases, sentence fragments, sentences, and or other linguistic units that have the letters of the Seed Text as their initial letters. I used this technique to read the poem “No Friendly Sky Anymore”. The entire poem “No Friendly Sky Anymore” in Exhibit 1(b) serves as the Source Text and its title as the Seed Text. The new poem that resulted is shown in the Exhibit 1(a). Seeds taken from the Source Text are italicized as shown in Exhibit 1(b)

Exhibit 1(a)
(SEED TEXT)

No Friendly Sky Anymore

Now
do

Flashbacks
cries
Friends
Skies
human
ground
friendly
Covertly

Seas
skies
say

Acts
and
cry
garments
junior
terror
justice

Exhibit 1(b)
SOURCE TEXT

No Friendly Sky Anymore

It is fair and right to say
That the people
Of the West Indies
Do mourn with thee

We have watched
From the islands
Of the Caribbean
Glued to television sets
In disbelief

The September
Events
And now
With trace of tears
Still lingering
We do remember

America
We do cry with you
Because these evil acts
Are for all mankind too

Our hearts do bleed
At the loss
Inflicted
By terrorists
And their boss

These thoughts
That you
Do read here
Are real

And shall be
Our lasting nightmare

To be haunted
By flashbacks
Of nine-eleven

America attacked
By a gang
Of more than seven

We
With gaping mouths
And bulging eyes
Watched planes
Attack buildings
Amid the horrible
Cries

People trapped
Inside the inferno
With no hope
Of seeing tomorrow

As their helpless friends
And kin
Looked
To the skies
In horror

Yankees, and we all
Have had enough
Of this terrorist band
Parading
Across that beautiful
And noble land

Dressed in garments
And wearing
A human face
They plotted
Covertly
To zap
The American race

To those families there
And across the seas
With fallen people
At ground zero
And elsewhere
Rest assured
America will not stand
For another judgement error

So spoke
Bush-junior
And with him a Blair-ing sound
Vowed, to hit back terror
In all its shades...for
By George
America will attack

We, with friendly forces
Will fight terror
In every nook
And cranny
And there will be
No cause for you
To murmur
To Uncle Sam

Justice
Fair play
Integrated
With all our forces’ might

For in God
We put our trust
Because the cause
Is good

Here are some guidelines on how to create your first Acrostic poem using the Acrostic reading-through procedure developed by Jackson Mac Low.

Select a Source Text from any type of reading matter you prefer. Let's suppose you selected this as your Source Text:

The 2010 Copiapó mining accident occurred on 5 August 2010, when part of the San José copper-gold mine near Copiapó, Chile collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped deep below ground. The miners survived underground for a record 68 to 69 days. All 33 were rescued and brought to the surface on 13 October 2010, with the first miner emerging from the Fénix 2 rescue capsule at 00:10 CLDT and the last at 21:55 CLDT. After the last trapped miner was winched to the surface, the rescue workers held up a sign stating "Misión cumplida Chile" (English: Mission accomplished Chile) to the estimated more than 1 billion people watching the rescue on live television around the world.

The San José Mine is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) north of Copiapó, in northern Chile. The miners were trapped at approximately 700 meters (2,300 ft) deep and about 5 kilometres (3 mi) from the mine entrance. The mine had a history of instability that had led to previous accidents, including one death.

The retrieval of the first miner, Florencio Ávalos, began on Tuesday, 12 October at 23:55 CLDT, with the rescue capsule reaching the surface 16 minutes later. By 21:55 CLDT on 13 October, all 33 miners had been rescued, almost all in good medical condition, and expected to recover fully. Two miners were suffering from silicosis, one of whom also had pneumonia, and others were suffering from dental infections and corneal problems. Three of the rescued miners had immediate surgery under general anaesthetic for dental problems.

The total cost of the rescue operation was estimated between US$10–20 million, a third covered by private donations with the rest coming from state-owned mining corporation Codelco and the government itself.

Read it through from beginning to the end to get an understanding of what is written in the Source Text. Select a theme or title from what you have just read for your Seed Text. Let’s suppose you selected “Copiapo Miners” as the theme.

Read the Source Text again starting from the beginning and find successively words, phrases, sentence fragments, sentences, and/or other linguistic units that have the letters of the Seed Text as their initial letters. The number of letters in the title of your Seed Text should give you an indication of the number of verses the Seed Text poem. For example “Copiapo Miners” poem would have thirteen verses as follows:

Copiapo Miners

C.................................
o.................................
p......................................
i.........................................
a...............................................
p...................................................
o............................
M............................................
i.............................................................
n.......................................
e..........................................
r................................................
s.......................................................

with the lines of verses varying in length normally.

Read your completed Acrostic poem aloud, check for errors and correct any errors found.

Comments on Prayer

2010-10-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

This poem “Prayer” was written on September 15, 2007 at Cassia Drive, St. James South, Barbados. It was my birthday. It takes the form of an Acrostic Reversed-Telestich in Free Verse. In reversing the forward movement of the Telestich portion of the Acrostic poem, to that of a backward motion is what created the Reversed-Telestich.

Looking at the poem, at first glance, it looks like metered poetry, but it is not. A closer look at the poem would reveal that it does not conform to established patterns of meter, rhyme and stanza.

The poems “Heroes” and “Prayer” take the form of the Acrostic Reversed-Telestich. Here are some guidelines to help you compose your first Acrostic Reversed-Telestich poem:

Firstly, make the decision as to what style you will write the Acrostic Reversed-Telestich; whether in the traditional form or in Free Verse.

Select a title for the Acrostic Reversed-Telestich. Let’s say you selected the title “Heroes”. Bearing in mind that the Reversed-Telestich starts at the end of each line of verse with that word whose last letter in reverse as shown in the graphic map below:

Acrostic side of the Poem .............. Reversed-Telestich Side of the Poem

H ...................................................... s
e ....................................................... e
r ....................................................... o
o ....................................................... r
e ....................................................... e
s ....................................................... h

Start composing the lines of verses for the poem, now that you know where the starting points are for the Acrostic and for the Reversed-Telestich sides of the poem.

At the beginning of the first line of verse, begin with the first letter in the title. Continue on this line of verse until you reach the end point and use a word that has the last letter of the title.

At the beginning of the second line of verse, begin with the second letter of title; at the end of this same line of verse, use a word that has the next last letter of the title. Continue this sequence for the remaining verses of your poem.

You can follow this procedure for any title you come up with for your Acrostic Reversed-Telestich poem.

Read your completed poem aloud, check for errors and correct any errors found.

Comments on "Heroes"

2010-10-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

It was a cloudy day with no rain and a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius on October 10, 2010 when I wrote this short poem "Heroes" at my Cassia Drive home in St. James South on the coral island of Barbados. The poem is in the form of an Acrostic Reversed-Telestich with Tetrameter verses. This alphabetic poem is flagged under the category of “Heroism”.

Do you think that contemporary society has overuse the word “hero” for what might be easily construed as being a “good Samaritan”? Do you consider great explorers and sports-people to be heroes? Would this definition of a hero help you to make up your mind?

Bravery is usually the biggest trait of all heroes (male and female). Such persons have overcome huge obstacles to survive and to rescue others. Such persons accept the call to adventure and have overcome perils in a manner that requires courage and sacrifice in a way that benefits society in some recognizable way. Every person at sometime or other is constantly searching for a hero because a hero is someone that inspires you to lift yourself from your boot-string as it were for the greater good to self and to others.

Comments on Good Friday

2010-10-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

This acrostic Telestich poem “Good Friday” was composed at Cassia Drive, Husbands Terrace, St. James South on the island of Barbados on October 8, 2010. At first glance, you’ll think the poem is about the religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary, but it is not. The imagery of this short poem written in pentameter verses gives clues to a business management concept of budgeting, and uses the home environment as its launching pad as it were.

The word budget is derived from a French word for purse. Generally, a budget is a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is one’s plan for saving and spending the money earned or gifted. A budget is a very important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more commodities. A good definition for the term budget is the organizational plan stated in monetary terms.

What is the real purpose served by budgeting? There are two very important aspects to the budget plan: It provides a forecast of revenue and expenditure, that is, it constructs a model of how a business entity might perform financially, if certain strategies, events and plans are utilized. It actually enables the financial operations of the business to be measured against the forecast.

Do you believe households can benefit from personal budgeting? There are components from the business model of budgeting from which families and individuals can reap benefits. While budgeting is not the panacea for solving immediate financial problems, the wise management of one’s money will serve one well for years. Budgeting is worthwhile when considering the best use of one’s finances and one does not have to be a scrooge to do so.

Do you know which department prepares the United States Federal Budget, and who directs the Treasury to prepare the Budget for the United Kingdom? For sure, I know that the Ministry of Finance prepares the Budget for Barbados.

The poems “Good Friday” and “Treasures” which no doubt you have read by now, are written the form of the Acrostic Telestich. Here are some guidelines to help you compose your first Acrostic Telestich poem:

Firstly, make the decision as to what style you will write the Acrostic Telestich; whether in the traditional form or in Free Verse.

Select a title for the Acrostic Telestich, preferably a dual title is much better, but a single title could work as well. Let’s say you selected the title “Good Friday”. Select Good for the Acrostic side of the poem and Friday for the Telestich part of the poem. This procedure is shown on the map below, bearing in mind that the Telestich starts at the end of each line of verse with that word whose last letter ends with (f).

Good Friday

Acrostic Side .................... Telestich side
G………………..……………… f ...... (e.g. reef)
o………………..……………… r........ (prayer)
o………………..……………… i......... (kai)
d………………..………………d........ (deed)
………………………………... a......... (ameba)
……………………………… …y......... (theory)

If you decided on a single title for your Acrostic Telestich poem, for example ”Morning” the procedural map looks like this

Morning

Acrostic Side.............. Telestich Side
M………………..……..… m ....... (e.g. balm)
o………………………….. o ........ (e.g. ago)
r…………………………... r ........ (e.g. air)
n………………………….. n ........ (e.g. noon)
i…………………………... i ......... (e.g. kauri)
n…………………………..n ........ (e.g. fan)
g…………………………. g ......... (e.g. running)

Start composing the lines of verses for the poem, now that you know where the starting points are for the Acrostic and Telestich sides of the poem.

At the beginning of the first line of verse, begin with the first letter in the first word- title (in this example, the title is “Good Friday”) the first word-title is “Good” and the first letter is “G”. Continue on this line of verse until you reach the end point and use a word that has as its last letter “f” which is the first letter of the second word-title (in the example, the title is “Good Friday”) so the second word-title is “Friday”.

At the beginning of the second line of verse, begin with the second letter “o” from the first word-title; at the end of this same line of verse, use a word that has as its last letter “r” which is the second letter in the second word-title.

At the beginning of the third line of verse, begin with the third letter “o” from the first word-title; at the end of this same line of verse, use a word that has as its last letter “i” which is the third letter in the second word-title.

At the beginning of the fourth line of verse, begin with the fourth letter “d” from the first word-title, this completes the Acrostic segment of the poem; now focus on completing the Telestich second of the poet by going to the end of this same line of verse, use a word that has as its last letter “d” which is the fourth letter in the second word-title.

At the end of the fifth line of verse use a word that has as its last letter “a” which is the fifth letter in the second word-title.

At the end of the sixth line of verse use a word that has as its last letter “y” which is the sixth letter in the second word-title.

You can follow this procedure for any title you have for your Acrostic Telestich poem.

Read your completed poem aloud, check for errors and correct any errors found.

Comments on "Valentine's Day"

2010-10-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

The poem “Saint Valentine’s Day was composed at Husbands Terrace, St. James South, Barbados on February 7, 2009. Saint Valentine event, though not a public holiday in Barbados, this fact does not diminish its impact on the general consciousness of Barbadians of all walks of life.

Barbados was once a British colony so whatever transpired in England found its way to our shores, and being called "Little England" said it all. Traditions handed down from England still hold true even though Barbados looks after its own affairs since 1966.

Here is a little history and myths about Saint Valentine’s Day. According to British history, Henry V was one of the great warrior kings of medieval England. He was very much loved by his subjects. He was born September 16, 1387. His father was King Henry IV (Bolingbroke) and Mary Bohun, daughter of the Earl of Hereford was his mother. He was their eldest son.

The Prince of Wales, for that was his title before he became King Henry V, fought many wars successfully. He was adept with the bow and arrow. He became King of England at the tender age of twenty-six in 1413. However, he was very experienced in raging and fighting wars from a very early age. His expansionist ideas moved him into recapturing the lands in France held by his ancestors, and laid claim to the French throne. His fame skyrocketed with his victory against the French at the Battle of Agincourt, a chapter in his life immortalized in Shakespeare's play. This battle led the French into agreeing to the Treaty of Troyes in May 1420. Thus, he was recognized as heir to the French throne and he married Catherine, the daughter of the French king, Charles VI of France. This marriage was an important part of the alliance agreed to with the Burgundians, culminating in the Treaty of Troyes which recognized King Henry V as heir to the French Throne.

King Henry V returned to England with Catherine after a period of three and a half years in 1421. In June he returned to France and died suddenly on
31 August 1422. By the way, his nine month old son succeeded him as King Henry VI and John Lydgate continued his close association with the new King of England, Henry VI in like manner he had with his father, King Henry V.

Before the Prince of Wales ascended to the throne of England he met
John Lydgate. Lydgate studied at Gloucester College, the Benedictine house at Oxford. The Prince of Wales recognized Lydgate's potential as a Lancastrian propagandist. Before he became King Henry V a year later, in 1412 he commissioned John Lydgate to work on his "Troy Book" (1412-1420). It was a translation and expansion of "Guido delle Colonne' Historia destructionis Troiae". This was the Prince of Wales' way of ensuring that the great epic about the Trojan War would live on as it were in "oure tonge". By literary circles, the "Troy Book" is rarely viewed as an epic, per se, but rather a collection of information about the political and moral counsel laced with mythical thought that linked England with Troy.

Lydgate's poetic structure has some semblance of the Chaucerian iambic pentameter verses, but varied in some cases by Lydgate's improvised poetic devices as the structure demanded. John Lydgate who was in addition to being a writer, poet, translator was a Benedictine monk and rose to the rank of a Benedictine Priest. He was educated at the Benedictine Monastery of Bury St. Edmund's. The archives shows the year of his birth at 1370 but I'm hard pressed to find the months of his birth and death. However, the records do show that he died in 1451.

Essentially one could not be wrong in saying that King Henry V looked upon John Lydgate as his Poet Laureate. Why, we have the historical framework that shows King Henry V employed him to be his writer, translator and poet. John Lydgate was a prolific poet and wrote many love poems. Hence, it would be no fallacy in believing that Prince of Wales soon to be King Henry V of England instructed Lydgate to write for him love letters, poems and notes. Throughout the time he was engaged in wars with France and courting Catherine Valois, the daughter of the French King, Charles VI it is purported that he instructed John Lydgate to write a love note and send it to her on Valentine's Day. One might well say that this act of King Henry V triggered the practice of sending love notes to friends and loved ones on February 14, handed down from medieval times and still persists in the 21st Century.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles Duke of Orleans, the grandson of Charles V of France to his wife while he was imprisoned in the tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.

The greeting which was written in 1415 is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.

In England, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. Then, by the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged - so typical of the Victorian Era. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings.

So yes, Barbadians each year embrace this day of love and romance. Students across the island find themselves busy preparing their valentines to be distributed to shut-ins on Valentine's Day along with the many red roses they will be handing out. Schools do have their Valentine's Day project well organized. Across the island stores are well stocked with all types of candy, chocolates, red roses and gifts for all types of shoppers for their various valentines. There are many valentine fetes organized by various social groups, religious organizations, individuals and lovers, all in the name of Saint Valentine. Who is this mysterious Saint and why do we celebrate this holiday.

History does not give any guarantee as to the origin of Valentine's Day. There is the consensus though, that the history of Valentine's Day and its patron Saint - is shrouded in mystery. What is known is that February has long been acclaimed the month of romance and goes back to a pagan festival known as Lupercalia. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleaned by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout the interior. Lupercalia, which began at the Ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman funders Romulus and Remus. The festival got on its way when members of the luperci, an order of Roman priests, gathered at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome were believed to have been cared for by lupa, a she-wolf.

The priests sacrificed a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The boys sliced the goats hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets; gently they slapped both women and fields of crops with the goat-hide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. The legend goes on to say that later in the day, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial which probably occurred around 270 A.D, others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'Christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. Now the puzzling questions in your mind perhaps are these. Who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? We do know though, that even today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus all of whom were martyred. However, we are again left with a number of legends. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men--his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Another legend would have it that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

This other legend about Valentine states that Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl--who may have been his jailer's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and most importantly, romantic icon. It is perhaps no surprise that by the middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular Saints in England and France.

Seven days before Saint Valentine’s Day, this Acrostic on “Saint Valentine’s Day” was written. It has non-standard pentameter verses and end-rhymes. When rhyming words come at the end of verses, they are called end-rhymes.

Pentameter verse has five iambic feet. The imagery of this poem does not give off a romantic spell but the dark stench of bloody love—love not returned in good measure but abuse.

Imagery is the representation through language of the senses that poets use to plant mind pictures. There are seven different kinds of imagery: auditory, gustatory, kinesthetic, olfactory, organic, tactile and visual. Poets use these imagery sensors to plant images in the mind’s eye.

Examples of the different kinds of imagery taken from poems taken from poetrynest are shown below; click on the links to read each poem.

Types of Imagery

1. Auditory
... Sound:
You scrape the kernels' ear
Because each has a big eye that will pop

2. Gustatory
... Taste:
Sweet tooth capped to prevent its deadly wound
Drops of Taukau honey fell from the jar

3. Kinestetic
... Movement or Tension:
Flinging words like flying feathers
Rain drops fell from eyes of Payne

4. Olfactory
... A smell:
Where foul scents abode
Heaps of carrion fumes perfumed the sky

5. Organic
... Internal sensation: fear, fatigue, thirst, hunger
The stillness haunts the lonely night,
Heavy rain keeps pouring down on the throng
Floods are everywhere in Poverty Bay.

6. Tactile
... Touch, for example: hardness, softness, wetness, heat, cold
Oh Rose! You cling and climb with flair
Two spirited harts meshed so very well

7. Visual
... in the mind's eye:
As nervous trees waved in the breeze
Of lines and curves of dangling sticky threads

Comments on "Mothers' Day"

2010-10-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

This poem “Mothers’ Day” was composed at Cassia Drive in St. James South, Barbados in 2008. It is in the form of an Acrostic made up of a septet stanza and a tercet stanza. A septet is a stanza of seven verses. A tercet is a stanza of three verses. The poem contains end rhymes forming a rhyme scheme aabccbd aab. It has tetrameter verses. However, the analysis of the verses shows that no particular pattern of meter dominates the verses. So in the poem you'll see verses further described as Trochaic tetrameter and iambic tetrameter measuring 4 feet as shown in Exhibit #1.

Exhibit #1
Graphic Scansion of the poem, "Mothers' Day

Many<>pros and<>cons, tag<>parents;
Trochee..... Trochee .........Trochee .......... Trochee
... /u ............./u .........│ ...... /u ..........│...... /u ...│
............ 1 .................... 2 .................... 3 .............. 4 ..Trochaic Tetrameter

onus<>on moth<>ers to<>bear fruits
Trochee ....... Iamb ............... Pyrrhic ............. Spondee
../u ....... │...... u/ ................│...uu ..........│.......... // ......... │
.............. 1 ......................... 2 ................. 3 ........................ 4 ....Tetrameter

the Cre<>ator<>placed on<>us, his
.. Pyrrhic ..Trochee ... Trochee ........ Pyrrhic
.... uu ......│.... /u ......... /u ............. ... uu .....│
............... 1 ........... 2 ...................... 3 ............ 4 .....Tetrameter

heaven<>ly en<>dowed port<>manteau;
..Trochee .. Pyrrhic ..... Trochee ........... Trochee
.... u/ ......│... uu ...│........ /u ............│...... /u .......│
............... 1 .......... 2 ......................... 3 ................ 4 ....Trochaic Tetrameter

even<>Adam<>wore it<> to sow…
Trochee ..Trochee ... Trochee ...... Iambic
..... /u......... /u ... ..... /u .................u/ .............
........... 1 .............. 2 .............. 3 ........................... 4 ...... Trochaic Tetrameter

respect<>your mom<>,Benedict<>said it's
Trochee.......... Pyrrhic ....... Amphibrach .... Trochee
.... /u ...... │..... uu ............│........... u/u ... ......... /u ....│
............... 1 ...................... 2 .....................3 ................. 4 .... Tetrameter

Sacred<>,to cath<>olic<>decree;
Trochee ....... Pyrrhic ..Trochee ...Trochee
.... /u ......│...... u u .....│.. / u ........... / u │....
............... 1................. 2 ......... 3 ............ 4 .....Trochaic Tetrameter

Drawn to<>passions'<>bed we<>do wed
..Trochee .......... Trochee ... ... Trochee ....... Spondee
..... / u .........│....... / u ........│....... / u .....│..... / / ...... │
.................... 1 .................... 2 ................ 3 ................ 4 ..Trochaic Tetrameter

and Jor<>dan floods<>the Dead<>Sea bed
...Iambic........... Iambic ............ Iambic ......... Spondee
..... u / ..... │ ........ u / ......... │....... u / ........ │ .... / / .......│
................ 1......................... 2 .................... 3 ................ 4 ...Iambic Tetrameter

yearly<>since, Ma<>ry birth<>us Christ
Trochee ........ Iambic .......... Iambic ......... Iambic
... /u ......│ ...... u/ ......... │....... u/ ....... ...... u/ ......... │
..............1...................... 2 .................. 3 .................... 4 ....Iambic Tetrameter

In English poetry, measurement places emphasis on stressed and unstressed syllables and this type of measurement is described as accentual-syllabic meter, in which every syllable counts to create the proper rhythm and flow of the meter. Geoffrey Chaucer and his contemporary of poets are credited for the fusion of the accentual of English and the syllabic of French into modern English accentual-syllabic forms.

Meter means measurement of the verse length. Foot is the unit of such measurement; hence the measuring instrument is known as the metric foot. In ancient Greece during poetry chants, chanters danced to the rhythmic flow of poetry verses with their feet so this tradition of using feet as the measurement tool in poetry came about.

Let’s look at the words (attack), (beginner) and the phrase (her health) as examples.

The word (attack) has two like consonant letters (tt), the syllable before the double consonant is usually stressed. Hence, in the word (attack) the first syllable (at) is stressed and the second syllable (tack) is unstressed. The graphic scanning of the word (attack) looks like this:

at’tack
. /... u ... ... trochaic monometer

and therefore measures one foot and the symbolic representation of this particular pattern of the English foot is called a trochaic monometer. Exhibit #2 gives a listing of these various patterns in the English poetic foot.

Exhibit #2
English Metrication Symbols

u/ ........ Iamb
u/u ...... Amphibrach
uu/ ...... Anapest
/u ..........Trochee
/uu ....... Dactyl
// .......... Spondee
uu.......... Pyrrhic

These are the most common types found in English poems. I wished blogger was user friendly when it comes to tables and charts. Use is made of leader dots to prevent the scrambling of these symbols all over the blog.

A vertical line like this (│) in graphic scansion is called the counter. The counter marks the location where every foot ends on the lines of verse. The phrase (her health) has an unstressed word (syllable) and a stressed word (syllable). A phrase is a group of words that does not have both a subject and a predicate and therefore cannot stand as a clause or a sentence. The graphic scansion of this phrase (her health) looks like this:

her health
. u ... / ..... ... iambic monometer

This graphic scansion of the phrase (her health) shows that the first word (syllable) is unstressed and the second word (syllable) is stressed and therefore measures one foot making this particular symbolic pattern an iambic monometer verse.

Why is it an iambic monometer verse?

When a metrical foot in English poetry is made up of one unstressed syllable (u) followed by one stressed (/) syllable it is called an iambic foot. The English derivative of the word iambic is iamb. Exhibit #3 shows the symbolic representation of the various English poetic feet.

Exhibit #3
English Metrication

Monometer is a line of verse measuring 1 foot

Dimeter is a line of verse measuring 2 feet

Trimeter is a line of verse measuring 3 feet

Tetrameter is a line of verse measuring 4 feet

Pentameter is a line of verse measuring 5 feet

Hexameter is a line of verse measuring 6 feet

Heptameter is a line of verse measuring 7 feet

Octameter is a line of verse measuring 8 feet

Nonameter is a line of verse measuring 9 feet

Decameter is a line of verse measuring 10 feet

Why does the graphic scansion of the phrase “her health” shows and unstressed symbol for “her”?

Let’s bear in mind that English stress content words. Nouns, principal verbs, adjectives and adverbs are considered content words. Pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions are considered Function words. Function words are quickly glided over in speech hence the reason why they carry the unstressed label. These principles are applied as well in accentual-syllabic meter. This quality of quickly gliding over less important words is also known as connected speech. In my cursory analysis of English words with two syllables the stressed syllable seems to fall on the first syllable.

The word (beginner) has two like consonant letters (nn), the syllable before the double consonant is usually stressed. Hence, in the word (beginner) the first syllable (be) is unstressed, the second syllable (gin) is stressed and the last syllable (ner) is unstressed. The graphic scanning of the word (beginner) looks like this

be’gin’ner
..u . /.... u
Amphibrach u/u

It measures one foot in the pattern of the Amphibrach.

The iamb is the most common metrical foot in English and other languages as well. The iambic and anapestic meters are called rising meters because their sound rises from unstressed to stressed. Trochee and dactylic meters are called the falling meters and this is so because their sound falls from stressed to unstressed. The anapest and the dactyl are bouncing meters and in the twentieth century they were very popular in comic verses than for serious poetry. The spondee still measures a foot even thought it has one sound that is stressed, and so is the pyrrhic with one sound that is unstressed. They are never used as the sole meter of a poem. Wherever the spondee and the pyrrhic are found in the verse, they provide the complementary role of lending emphasis and variety to a meter especially the iambic rhythmic verses.

Metrical verses are named according to the constituent foot and for the number of feet in the line of verse. So what we have got is this listing where a:

Monometer measuring 1 iambic foot is called an Iambic Monometer

Dimeter measuring 2 iambic feet is called an Iambic Dimeter

Trimeter measuring 3 iambic feet is called an Iambic Trimeter

Tetrameter measuring 4 iambic feet is called an Iambic Tetrameter

Pentameter measuring 5 iambic feet is called an Iambic Pentameter

Hexameter measuring 6 iambic feet is called an Iambic Hexameter

Heptameter measuring 7 iambic feet is called an Iambic Heptameter

Octameter measuring 8 iambic feet is called an Iambic Octameter

Nonameter measuring 9 iambic feet is called an Iambic Nonameter

Decameter measuring 10 iambic feet is called an Iambic Decameter

It is not a common occurrence in English Language poetry to read lines of verses in poems made up entirely of the anapest, trochee, dactyl, spondee, pyrrhic or any other type. These only provide variety and versatility in the rhythmic flow of poetic verses. What is most common occurrence in English Language poetry is to read lines of verses in poems made up entirely or mostly of the iamb. The iamb is the most popular foot in English Language Poetry. So, any description of the lines of verses in English Poetry necessitates inclusion the name of the constituent foot or dominant foot.

Here are examples of two poems (“Rose” and “Upon Leaving USA”) for you to study:

Rose

Your roots .................... (monometer verse)
Are everywhere
In gardens near and far
With petals of sunshine beauty
Blooming ...................... (monometer verse)

Graphic Scansion of the poem “Rose”

Your roots
.... Iamb
...... u / ........
.................... 1 .... iambic monometer verse
Are ev<>erywhere
Spondee ....... Iamb
... //............. u/.......
............. 1 ................. 2 ... dimeter verse
In gar<>dens near<>and far
.. Iamb ....... Iamb .......... Iamb
... u/...... ....... u/ ......... .. uu ....
............. 1 .................... 2 ............ 3 ... iambic trimeter
With pet<>als of sun<>shine beauty
.. Iamb ...... .. Anapest .... .. Amphibrach .....
.. u/ ................. uuu ................... //u
.................. 1 .................... 2 ........................... 3 ... trimeter
Blooming<>
.. Iamb
... /u ...........
................... 1 ... iambic monometer

Some poems are written exclusively in monometer verse.
Here is such an example taken from the poem “Upon Leaving USA” and the graphic scansion on it as proof.

Upon Leaving USA

The stress
And worry
Were more
Than she
Could bear;

Graphic Scansion of the poem “Upon Leaving USA”

The stress<>
... Iamb
.... u/
..................
.................. 1 foot ... iambic monometer
And worry<>
Amphibrach
.... u/u
..................
.................. 1 foot ... amphibrachaic monometer
Were more <>
.. Spondee
..... //
.....................
..................... 1 foot ... spondaic monometer
Than she <>
Pyrrhic
... uu
...............
............... 1 foot ... pyrrhaic monometer

Could bear; <>
.. Spondee
...... //
......................
...................... 1 foot ... spondaic monometer

In this particular poem (Upon Leaving USA) even though each line of verse measures one foot (monometer) the foot pattern varies throughout the lines of verse, and the iambic foot is not the dominant pattern throughout the poem because other foot patterns have emerged but still not able to claim dominance in every line of verse either, so the poem can only be described as having monometer verses. If the iambic pattern had been able to claim dominance in all the lines of verse in the poem, then we could say that "Upon Leaving USA" is an iambic monometer poem. However, based on the graphic scansion the poem is simply a monometer poem. To read all the verses to the poem go to “Upon Leaving the USA".

What is there to learn about the graphic scansion process?

Scansion in the broadest sense is to examine carefully animate and inanimate entities using any range of symbols. This process of examining and analyzing symbols and symbolic expressions in the end products of poetry, for the purpose to make informed decisions as to what the poet is saying or might be implying is called Graphic Scansion. This process examines in detail the rhythmic flow and the metrical structure of poems in order to understand the poems better and to draw conclusions from them.

Comments on Treasures

2010-09-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Comments

This Acrostic Telestich poem “Treasures” was composed at Cassia Drive, in the parish of St James, Barbados on September 14, 2007. In the poem, the speaker highlights the importance of national treasures in any territorial domain, all be it that the speaker uses the island of Barbados as the point of reference. But really, what can be taken from this poem is the importance of national treasures, the total wealth of any island or continent. The speaker is reminding all and sundry that it is incumbent to show great appreciation for the national heritage found in architecture, the landscape, in documents or other artefacts that are considered to be of national significance. The various types of museums dotting the landscape of Barbados and indeed in other parts of the world do hold the keys to the national treasures of any island or continent. Museums store the vast resources that cover every domain of knowledge, and forums for civil discussion and debate. The museum experience has the capacity to change learning trajectories for life in positive ways.

To convey this message of appreciation of our national treasures in this Acrostic Telestich poem, the poet used an Accentual-Syllabic meter that determines the number and type of feet in each line of verse. When the graphic scansion was administered on this poem the result shows that each line of verse measures eight feet, so the poem has Octameter (Octometer) verses. Unfortunately, the blog settings do not allow for the chart to be shown without distortions; so a summary is provided in its place for each line of verse from the poem, "Treasures". This summary shows where each foot in each line of verse appears, and how various Stress Rules are applied in verifying the stressed syllables and the unstressed syllables.

Summary for the poem, Treasures

Tangible and intangible gifts from our Creator deserve proper treatment
Tangible/and intan/gible/gifts from our Cre/ator/deserve/ proper /treatment/ 8 feet

Tan'gi'ble/Amphibrach u/u
and in'tan/Tribrach uuu
gi'ble/Trochee /u
gifts from Our Cre'/Tetrabrach uuuu
a'tor/Trochee /u
de'serve/Iambic u/
pro'per/Iambic u/
treat'ment/Trochee /u

relish indigenous blooms, faunae, land, and artefacts and the man-eater
relish/ indi/genous/ blooms, faunae,/ land, and /artefacts/ and the/ man-eater / 8 feet

re'lish/Iambic u/
in'di'/ Iambic u/
ge'nous/ trochee /u
blooms, faun'ae/Antibacchius //u
land and/ Pyrrhic uu
ar'te'facts/Amphibrach u/u
and the/ Pyrrhic uu
man-eater/Amphibrach u/u

environmental issues must be the main course on government’s whole-plate;
environ/mental/ issues/must be/the main/course on/government's/whole-plate;/ 8 feet

en'vi'ron/Anapestic uu/
men'talTrochee /u
is'sues/Trochee /u
must be/ Spondee //
the main/Iambic u/
course on/ Trochee /u
gov'ern'ment's/ Dactylic /uu
whole plate/ Spondee //

any country that respects not its jewels suffers from alopecia;
any/ country/ that respects/ not its/ jewels/ suffers/ from alo/pecia/ 8 feet

a'ny/Iambic u/
coun'try/Trochee /u
that re'spects/Anapestic uu/
not its/Pyrrhic uu
jewels/Trochee /u
suffers/Trochee /u
from a'lo/Anapestic uu/
pe'ci'a/Antibacchius //u

saboteurs in darkness lay waste the land for corporate selfish greediness
saboteurs/ in darkness/ lay waste/ the land/ for cor/porate/ selfish/ greediness/ 8 feet

Sa'bo'teurs/Bacchius u//
in dark'ness/Amphibrach u/u
lay waste/Iambic u/
the land/Pyrrhic uu
for cor'/Pyrrhic uu
po'rate/Trochee /u
sel'fish/lTrochee /u
gree'di'ness/Dactylic /uu

unearthed the dead, and crushed the dead bones with vitriol mixed with impromptu;
unearthed/the dead,/and crushed/the dead bones/with vi/triol/mixed with/impromptu; / 8 feet

un'earthed/Iambic u/
the dead/Iambic u/
and crushed/Iambic u/
the dead bones/Bacchius u//
with vi'/Pyrrhic uu
tri'ol/Trochee /u
mixed with/Trochee /u
im'promp'tu/Amphibrach u/u

restore what’s left of our national heritage, says Doctor Henry Fraser;
restore /what's left/ of our/ national/ heritage,/ says Doctor/ Henry/ Fraser;/ 8 feet

re'store/Iambic u/
what's left/Trochee /u
of our/Iambic u/
na'tion'al/Amphibrach u/u
he'ri'tage/Cretic /u/
says Doc'tor/Antibacchius //u
Hen'ry/Trochee /u
Fra'ser/Trochee /u

enjoy this our cultural roots, and our rich heritage gladly we share;
enjoy/ this our/ cultural/ roots, and/our rich/ heritage/ gladly/ we share;/ 8 feet

en'joy/Iambic u/
this our/Iambic u/
cul'tur'al/Dactylic /uu
roots and/Trochee /u
our rich/Trochee /u
he'ri'tage/Cretic /u/
glad'ly/Trochee /u
we share/Iambic u/

savor Sharon Church for it is older than Port St. Charles on the west beaches.
savor/Sharon Church/for it/is older/than Port/ St. Charles/on the/west beaches./ 8 feet

sa'vor/Iambic u/
Sha'ron Church/amphibrach /u/
for it/Pyrrhic uu
is old'er/Antibacchius //u
than Port/Pyrrhic uu
St. Charles/Spondee //
on the/Pyrrhic uu
west beaches/Bacchius u//

You will readily see that the Acrostic uses the first letters of words at beginning of verse lines to spell out the title, whereas the Telestich uses the last letters of words at the end of verse lines to spell out the title. When a poem contains both an Acrostic and Telestich elements, the creation is known as an Acrostic Telestich. The Acrostic part of the poem appears on the left side, whereas the telestich part of the poem appears on the right side of the poem. If a dual title is used for the poem (for example, “National Treasures”) the Acrostic element is formed from the word “National” and the Telestich element from the word “Treasures”. However, this does not preclude the fact that the Acrostic side of the poem could carry the compound title “National Treasures” and the Telestich side “National Treasures” but in doing so, the poem would have seventeen lines of verse instead of eight lines of verse. If you opt for seventeen lines of verse for the Acrostic Telestich poem, the first stanza would have Octameter lines of verse,and second stanza would have Nonameter lines of verse.

The remarkable thing about this poem is that any of these different types of metrical foot such as the Anapest, Amphibrach, Antibacchius, Bacchius, Cretic or Amphimacer, Dactyl, Iamb, Pyrrhic, Spondee, Tribrach and the Trochee are scattered around in the nine lines of verse in the poem. These are described as follows:

Amphibrach foot is made up of three syllables with the stressed syllable between two unstressed syllables as shown in this example: Creator (u / u )

Stress Rule No. 1: In words of three or more syllables, one of the first two syllables is usually stressed. Examples: ac'/ci/dent, de/ter'/mine, Cre/a'/tor.

Anapestic foot is made up of three syllables with the stressed syllable after the two unstressed syllables as shown in this example: that respects (u u / )

Stress Rule No. 2: When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short. Examples: fat, from, bed, fish, gift, spot, luck.
Stress Rule No. 3: If de-, re-, ex-, in-,po-, pro-, or a- is the first syllable in a word, it is usually not stressed. Examples: de/lay', ex/plore', re/spects'.

Antibacchius foot is made up of three syllables with two stressed syllables before the unstressed syllable as shown in this example: man- eater (/ / u )

See Stress Rule No. 3 above. Stress Rule No. 4: When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second is silent. Examples: pain, eat, ea/ter boat, res/cue, say, grow. NOTE: Diphthongs don't follow this rule; In a diphthong, the vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The diphthongs are: "oi, oy, ou, ow, au, aw, oo" and many others.

Bacchius foot is made up of three syllables with two stressed syllables after the unstressed syllable as shown in this example: saboteurs (u / /)

Stress Rule No. 4: Two vowel-letters together in the last syllable of a word often indicates a stressed last syllable. Examples: com/plain', sa/bo'/teurs', con/ceal'. Also see Stress Rule No. 1 above

Cretic foot or Amphimacer is made up of three syllables with the unstressed syllable between two stressed syllables as shown in this example: heritage (u / u)

Stress Rule No. 5: When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front of it is long. Examples: make, gene, kite, rope, and use. Also, see Stress Rule No. 1 above.

Dactylic foot is made up of three syllables with the stressed syllable before two unstressed syllables as shown in this example: Tangible (u / u )

See Stress Rule No. 5 above

Iambic foot is made up of two syllables with the unstressed syllable before the stressed syllable as shown in these examples: relish (u / )

Stress Rule No. 6: If de-, re-, ex-, in-, po-, pro-, or a- is the first syllable in a word, it is usually not stressed. Examples: de/lay', ex/plore'.

Pyrrhic foot is made up of two syllables all unstressed as shown in these examples: gift from (u u )

Stress Rule No. 7: When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short. Examples: fat, from, bed, fish, gift, spot, luck.

Spondee foot is made up of two syllables all stressed as shown in this example: whole-plate (/ / )
See Stress Rule No. 5 above

The spondee still measures a foot even thought it has one sound that is stressed, and so is the pyrrhic with one sound that is unstressed. They are never used as the sole meter of a poem. Wherever the spondee and the pyrrhic are found in the verse, they provide the complementary role of lending emphasis and variety to a meter especially the iambic rhythmic verses.

Trochee foot is made up of two syllables with the stressed before the unstressed as shown in this example: treatment (/ u )
See Stress Rule No. 3 and Stress Rule No. 7 above

Comments on Wire Taps

2010-09-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Comments:

This poem “Wire Taps” was composed at Rockley in the parish of
Christ Church, Barbados on September 13, 2007. It is written in the form of an Acrostic Mesostich.

When the first letters of the first word on each line of verse form a word or message relating to the subject or title an Acrostic poem is produced.

When the first letters of the middle word on each line of verse form the word or message relating to the subject or title a Mesostich poem is created.

Here are some guidelines to help you compose your first Acrostic Mesostich poem:

Firstly, make the decision as to what style you will write the Acrostic Mesostich; whether in the traditional form or in Free Verse

Select a title for the Acrostic Mesostich, preferably a dual title is much better, but a single title could work as well. Let’s say you selected the title “Good Luck”. Select Good for the Acrostic side of the poem and Luck for the Mesostich part of the poem. This procedure is shown on the map below, bearing in mind that the Mesostich starts at the middle-point of each line of verse in the poem.

Good Luck

Acrostic Side Mesostich side

G………………l……………….
o………………u……………….

o………………c……………….

d………………k……………….

If you decided on a single title for your Acrostic Mesostich poem, for example ”Fall” the procedural map looks like this

Fall

Acrostic Side Mesostich Side

F…………… f…………….

a………………a…………….

l………………l……………….
l………………l……………….

Start composing the lines of verses for the poem, now that you know where the starting points are for the Acrostic and Mesostich sides of the poem.

At the beginning of the first line of verse, begin with the first letter in the first word in the title (in this example, the title is “Good Luck”) the first word in the title is “Good” and the first letter is “G”. Continue on this line of verse until you reach the center point and begin that word with the first letter in the second word in the title (in this example, the title is “Good Luck”) the second word in the title is “Luck” and the first letter is “l”.

At the beginning of the second line of verse, begin with the second letter “o” in the first word in the title; at the center of this same line of verse, begin with the second letter “u” in the second word in the title.

At the beginning of the third line of verse, begin with the third letter “o” in the first word in the title; at the center of this same line of verse, begin with the third letter “c” in the second word in the title.

At the beginning of the fourth line of verse, begin with the fourth letter “d” in the first word in the title; at the center of this same line of verse, begin with the fourth letter “k” in the second word in the title.

You can follow this procedure for any title you have for your Acrostic Mesostich poem

Read your completed poem aloud, check for errors and correct any errors found.

Comments on "Venus goddess of love" poem

2010-09-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

This poem “Venus goddess of love” is written in Open Form poetry (notice that the first letters on each line spell out the title of the poem). Open form poetry is really Free Verse. It looks like metered poetry at first glance. However, it does not conform to established patterns of meter, rhyme and stanza. It derives its rhythmic properties from the repetition of words, phrases or grammatical structures, the arrangement of words on the page, or by some other means.

The Twentieth century American poet E. E. Cummings is well known for writing Open Form poetry. Indeed, his poems do not have measurable meter, but they definitely have great rhythm. He experimented radically with structure, punctuation, spelling and syntax. As it were, he abandoned traditional techniques and created his highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression. His critics said of him that he settled into his signature style and did not bother to carry his work to the next evolutionary level. Be that as it may, Cummings’ simplistic poetic language, his playful mode and obsession with topics on war and sex continues to capture the poetic hearts of young readers. It is now forty-eight years since his death but his poetic style lives on.

In this open form poem the explicit meaning is about a love relationship. In addition this poem shows didactic threads covertly embedded. Secondary school educators will find many suitable teachable themes for their thematic lessons for the integrated curriculum. Examples of some of didactic threads extracted from the Venus goddess of love poem are shown below.

Poem: Venus goddess of love

Teachable Themes and Topics:

The Mythology of Venus
Culture
Religious festivals
Science fiction movies, novels

Solar Terrestrial Planets
Venus
Earth
Mars
Mercury

NASA Missions
Venus Explorations:
Past
Present
Future

Barbados Involvement in Space Projects
High Altitude Research Project- Harp
Space Research Corporation-SRC
Martlet projectiles

Important Personalities and events that affected the project
Dr Gerald Bull
Saddam Hussein
Vietnam War
South Africa under Apartheid
Israeli Mossad
1991 Gulf War
Iranian Vevak intelligence agency

Why Barbados ousted SRC from its shores?

Integrated Curriculum:
English Language
English Literature
Science
Technology
Mathematics
Aerospace Technology Mathematics
History
Geography
Science (Aerodynamics and Ballistics)

The integrated curriculum is a philosophy of teaching in which content is drawn from several subject areas to focus on a particular topic or theme. Rather than studying mathematics or social studies in isolation, for example, a class might study a unit called The Ocean, using mathematics to calculate pressure at certain depths and social studies to understand why coastal and inland populations have different livelihoods. Effective interdisciplinary teaching includes the following elements:

A topic that lends itself to study from several points of view;

Two to five valuable themes (or essential questions) the teacher wants the students to explore;

An approach and activities to further students’ understanding more than is possible in a traditional, single-discipline unit.

Thematic instruction is the organization of a curriculum around macro “themes.” The thematic lesson integrates basic subjects (reading, math, and science) with the exploration of a broad topic, such as communities, forests, the use of energy, communication, water, transportation and so on.

The thematic lesson is based on the idea that students acquire knowledge best when learning in the context of a coherent “whole,” and when they can connect what they’re learning to the real world. The thematic lesson seeks to put the teaching of cognitive skills such as reading, mathematics, science, and writing in the context of a real-world subject that is both specific enough to be practical, and broad enough to allow creative exploration.

The thematic lesson usually occurs within an entire age-range (grade level) of students. Educators of all the different subjects taught in that particular age-range (grade) work together as a team to design the interdisciplinary curriculum, instruction methods, and assessment around a preselected theme. Typical procedures include:

Choosing a theme – Themes often involve a large, integrated system (such as a city, an ecosystem, and so on) or a broad concept (such as democracy, weather, and so on). Instructors often strive to connect the theme to the students’ everyday life

Designing the interdisciplinary curriculum – The educators involved must organize the learning objectives of their core curriculum (both process skills and content knowledge) around the theme. In the study of transportation, for instance, mathematics might involve calculating transportation costs; social studies could look at the nature of transportation; science might study computational transportation science like sensors and wireless devices; and literature could study books and novels that focus on transportation, such as the “Age of the Bicycle” by Charles Ashbacker, “Wagon Tracks” by Robert Harter.

Designing the instruction – This usually involves making changes to the class schedule, combining hours normally devoted to specific topics, organizing field trips, teaching in teams, bringing in outside experts, and so on.

Encouraging presentation and celebration – Because thematic instruction is often project-oriented, it frequently involves students giving collective presentations to the rest of the school or the community.

The thematic lesson can be a powerful tool for reintegrating the curriculum and eliminating the isolated, reductionist nature of teaching around disciplines rather than experience. It requires a lot of hard, initial design work, plus a substantial restructuring of teacher relationships and class schedules.

Hints on writing a didactic poem in Open Form

Now that you have read many poems written in open form, decide on what rules in traditional forms of poetry you plan to manipulate in the poem you will create. Think about a time where you were struck by a particular image: how you came upon that image; how that image made you feel; seeing the image, what flashed across your mind when you saw it? Select a title for that experience and decide on teachable thread you will weave into the poem.

Start composing your poem in open form. The Venus poem should serve as a model for writing your poem in open form.

Comments on Hurricane Preparedness Watch

2010-09-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

This didactic poem “Hurricane Preparedness Watch” is made up of decasyllabic quatrains rhyming aabb. This is a term used for a poetic form in which each stanza consists of four lines of ten syllables each, usually with a rhyme schemes aabb. When the decasyllabic quatrain has a rhyme scheme abab, it is often referred to as the "heroic quatrain", "heroic stanza" or the "four-line stave". It came to prominence in the poem Nosce Te ipsum (know thyself) by Sir John Davies in 1599. The history of English Literature shows that the most common usage for the decasyllabic form had existed long before Davies's poems in the form of the heroic couplet, where two lines of iambic pentameter verses were composed with a rhyme scheme aabb.

Before writing came into general use, instruction was conveniently expressed in verse, as being more easily remembered than prose. The Greeks did not recognize didactic poetry as a separate literary genre; since it was written in hexameters they regarded it as a form of epic poetry. In Greece this kind of composition died out in the fifth century BC with the rise of prose literature, but was revived in the Hellenistic age. Didactic Poetry is intended to convey instruction and information in a "fun sort of way" while at the same time putting across a delicate or serious message. It can assume the mode and features of imaginative works by infusing knowledge in a variety of poetic forms where various poetic techniques, diction and style are infused to keep readers' interest from start to finish. There is the popular view that allegory, aphorisms, apologues, fables, gnomes and proverbs are specific types of Didactic Poetry because of their close affinity. When reading didactic poems, focus on the serious messages each conveys. However, bear in mind that every poem has a didactic thread either overly or covertly.

Comments on Alisajs

2010-08-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

(Poetry Analysis)

The poem “Alisajs” is an acrostic written in a non-compliant form called Free Verse. This is so because it does not comply with the rules governing metered poetry. This free flow allowed the poet to write freely without worrying about trying to make the words fit a specific meter, rhyme scheme or stanza.

What message is being conveyed in this poem? How can you find out what message the poem is designed to convey? And how can you be sure that indeed you have accurately figured out what the poet is really communicating through the speaker of the poem? Not really unless you have the rare opportunity to sit down with the poet and have a frank discussion on the matter. After all, a poem is not a neatly constructed essay with a thesis statement at the beginning to tell the reader what it is all about. A poem does not usually tell readers what it means, otherwise it would be prose and not poetry. However, poems usually do have themes but they also try to create an emotional effect and make an association between things and ideas not often joined.

Poets don’t always choose a title that states their theme, but they often do. One should never ignore the title of a poem however vague it may be, for it may help one find the theme of the poem, or at least identify the key image representing the theme. Of course, this requires digging a little deeper to find meaning in a vague title, but if the title does seem to be telling something, it never hurts to relate that meaning to the rest of the poem because this controlling idea is continuously developed throughout the poem by sets of key words that identify the poet’s subject and attitude and feeling about it. What is a theme? The theme is the controlling idea in any poem, extracted from its details of language, character and action, and cast in the form of generalized statements.

Rarely does a poet begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. The poet's understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a reflection of that epiphany painted with words, poetic images, and patterns whirling around in the poem that are not always precise, because they have different meanings for different readers. However, the poet leaves readers with a trail of clues that provides both explicit meaning and the implicit meaning.

How might readers find meaning in any poem since poetic images are not always precise? Fortunately, there are analytical tools for poetry that allow readers to come up with intelligent ways as to what is the poet’s intended message is in the poem. Poetry analysis provides tools to extract both the explicit and implicit meaning from the poem. Poetry analysis is therefore, the process of investigating a poem’s form, content and history in an informed way, with the aim of heightening one’s own and others’ understanding and appreciation of the poetic work. This process is undertaken for many reasons and can take many forms. Teachers would analyze a poem in order to gain a more conscious understanding of how poems achieve their effects in order to communicate this to students. Writers learning the craft of poetry might use the tools of poetry analysis to expand and strengthen their own mastery. Persons who read poetry might use the tools and techniques of poetry analysis in order to discuss all that the poem has to offer, and thereby gain fuller and more rewarding appreciation of the poem.

There are some basic tenets which are very helpful when seeking to interpret what the poet says in the poem. It is important to try to understand the poem’s explicit, literal meaning first. Then seek answers to these attentive questions about the implicit meaning of the poem such as: What is implied? What is unsaid or suggested in the imagery…go beyond the obvious…break new grounds of understanding…think outside the box …search for new ideas and connotative meanings as it were.

Also, there is the matter of trying to understand the language of the poem. For example, these are some of the poetic devices like the metaphor, similes, understatements, overstatements, and other unusual uses of language that poets use to stretch the readers’ imagination so wearing a thinking cap is highly recommended; because poets are noted for setting up words to resonate with many meanings at once, and that’s the beauty of poetry. So in poetry, expect to find words packed with more meanings than when used in ordinary language. As we search for connotative meanings in poems we are required to think divergently most of the time.

When conducting an analysis of a poem it is imperative to comment on such matters as:

The Title
Speaker
Mood
Tone
Diction
Theme
Content

The analysis process is a sure way to discover the poem's message to the reader--what was the poet really trying to communicate. The analysis looks at poem’s message for both explicit and implicit answers. An example of an analysis of a poem is given below.

Alisajs

Adorably you muse with plenty of
love and romance, woven
into delicate, cognitive threads
sown exquisitely together
as well, you grasp tightly a
jardinière in your hands
sending lots of sunshine, to golden sands…

Title:

The title at once makes the reader thinks the poem is about a loving relationship revealed by one person to the other. However, it does not become clear immediately, that the poem offers a broader view of what civic-minded people do as they embrace the idea of being social partners in nation building. The title is feminine but begs the question: Is it a real name or a good user-name? The poet shows versatility in the structure of the poem

Speaker:

The speaker communicates directly to a female though it is hard to tell if speaker is male. The speaker showers praise on Alisajs in a public ceremony via some type of social networking site.

Mood:

The poem’s mood is that of excitement, confidence and sincerity.

Tone:

The speaker’s tone is respectful, sophisticated. There is no shift in the speakers tone and attitude; this suggests that the sentiments expressed are sincere.

Diction:

The language is dignified, poetic and lofty yet easily understood by the audience.

Theme:

Love and romance, caring and sharing, voluntarism, establishing connections, social consciousness of citizens, are possible themes in this poem.

Content:

The title gives a good structure for a user-name since the real name seems not to be in play here. This is based on the fact that a good user-name is easy to spell, to type and remember. It is simple and more or less free of special symbols. Probably the real name is ‘Lisa’ with the first letter ‘a’ and the last two letters ‘js’ as the permutations. A user-name is used for professional purposes, and helps to protect one’s privacy when communication via web services once the real name is not disclosed.

This poem has seven lines spelling out the name of the poem’s title. In this short poem there is much adoration shown in the imagery riding on the rhythmic wave of adjectives and adverbs providing needed insight into the personality traits of the person upon whom the accolade is being showered. The use of the acrostic form is most appropriate because this form provides the avenue from which to praise people, cities, and events during any kind of awards ceremony whether on a grand scale or not so grand.

This poem shows the poet’s versatility. There is a marked departure from the formal structure or established modes of conventional poetry arrangements in this poem. This contention is based on the fact that in the poem there are no set patterns of rhymes and meter. The poet makes effective use of the enjambment which is something not readily utilized in structured poetry with metered verses. The enjambment is the continuation of a syntactic element from one line of verse into the next without a pause; it allows the speaker to put emphasis on certain words or phrases. Also notice that in this poem, there is only one end-stop in the form of an ellipsis. End-stops are not typically found in Free Verse. What is evident in this poem is that the poet has borrowed techniques from unstructured forms and amalgamated them with conventional forms of which the acrostic belongs. Supposedly, that’s what versatile poets do nowadays.

The explicit or literal meaning of this poem is about a tender, loving attraction publicly shown to Alisajs by an admirer via some type of social media.

The insight into the personality traits of Alisajs shows that she is people-oriented; she is talented, and compassionate with a winning personality and an unselfish devotion as seen in Lines 5, 6 and 7. During the course of the conversation, Alisajs’ admirer lets it be known that she is adored because of the love she shares and so much more as implied by the use of the ellipsis (…). Questions arise: What kind of relationship is being demonstrated? Is it agape love, platonic or a romantic relationship? Is the relationship a long distance one or not? Is the person male or female who is talking to Alisajs? Answers to these questions go unanswered for thelack of sufficient clues in this short poem.

The speaker hints that Alisajs is talented and intelligent as seen in Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4. However, the question arises: What exactly is her area of expertise? The imagery does not say but leaves the fires of speculation burning to suggest that she could be any one of these: landscape designer, gourmet cook, motivational speaker. Could it be that she is a song writer or a poet whose forte is aligned with romanticism as envisioned in Line 1? Could she be a care-giver in some geriatric hospital as the mind sees in Line 7? What is Alisajs’ social status in the community? The speculation seems to say that she is probably from the bourgeois class given the sophisticated language of the speaker.

The implicit meaning of the poem is derived from the many feelings surfacing from the array of images being painted. The implicit meaning is propelled by metaphors found in the poem. These figures of speech stir up ambiguities of the language and give rise to speculative results from the additional questions they raise. This is all purposeful work on the part of the poet to speak to the readers’ subconscious mind. These figures of speech stir up ambiguities of the language and give rise to speculative results from the additional questions they raise. So where the mind goes, the poem will follow the mind. So, through the implicit prism, Alisajs is a metaphor for what civic-minded people do when pushing the voluntarism envelope in neighborly love to splendid heights by honoring the concept of social partners in nation building.

Please let me know if you find this helpful.

Comments on the "Lighthouse" poem

2010-07-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

Author’s Comments

“Lighthouse” is indeed an inspirational poem written in the form of an Acrostic with iambic pentameter verses. The speaker exhibits a tone of serious contentment well wrapped in an air of exuberance. This tone is reinforced by the speaker’s use of the lighthouse a universal image, as a metaphor to share insight into the audacity of hope. This is done through a careful balance of negative and positive symbols mixed with buoyancy seeping from the imagery.

Poetic wisdom dictates that tone is the attitudes of the speaker toward the subject and toward the audience, and as such, is manifested through inferences from the poem’s structure and in all the other elements of poetry such as: meter, diction, images, imagery, cadence, rhythm, rhyme, figurative language, literal meaning and symbolism. These elements are carefully extrapolated and the effects of these parts must be considered in relation to each other; bearing in mind that each verse line may set up a strong vibratory tone. However, in order to judge fairly the tone the speaker exhibits, the wisest thing to do is to consider the poem as a whole.

The "Olives" Poem

2010-07-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

Read what the author has to say about this poem

The “Olives” poem is written in the form of an Acrostic with a Sexain stanza. The verses in the stanza measure five iambic feet respectively or what is normally called iambic pentameter verses. A notable feature of this poem is that out of the six verses the first four verses and the last verse have punctuations marks. The fifth verse has no punctuation mark; this absence has created an enjambment. In poetic craft, punctuation marks at the end of verses are called end-stops.

Punctuation marks work differently in poetry than in other forms of writing. In poetry, punctuation marks are used not so much for grammatical correctness but rather for effect. The poet selects the type of end-spot that corresponds to the length of pause desired. When a long pause is desired the full-stop is used. When a short pause is desired the comma is used and the semicolon is used for a pause that is longer than comma but not as long as a full-stop. In poetic craft, the full-stop, question mark, and the exclamation mark are placed under the category long pauses, whereas, the comma, semicolon, the ellipsis and the dash are placed under the category of short pauses. The poet is mindful that a punctuation mark, or the lack thereof, can change meaning and add depth to the poem; so that is why the choice of ending is considered with the uttermost care.

The most common forms of end-stops in poetry are the comma, semicolon, question mark, exclamation mark, the dash and the ellipsis. These end-stops are clear pointers of the poet’s involvement in the “stage management” of the poem as it were. The poet tells readers of the poem where to pause and when not to pause. End-stops in a poem slow down the pace in the reading of the poem, whereas the enjambment accelerates the pace.

The Love Poem

2010-07-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

Author’s Comments:

The striking feature of this poem “Love” is that, it is written in the form of an Acrostic. At first glance, it looks like metered poetry but it is not. It is written in Open Form. Open Form allows the poet to stray away from the formal rules associated with metered poetry. In other words, the poet is free to juggle with the rules of metered poetry in whatever shape or fashion that pleases. From share necessity, poets experiment with many variants and irregularities whether in stanza allocation, verse length, punctuation, placement on the page or rhyme scheme. Open Form poets do this very well because they have a firm understanding of the rules that govern traditional forms of poetry. Open Form poetry came on the scene in America during the 19th century. To hear or read the poem click on the link

Specialized Rhyme Schemes in English Poetry Versification - Part VIII C

2010-04-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

Anacreon Ode *
Dorian Ode or Choric Ode/Pindaric Ode *
Cowleyan Pindaric Ode *
Epinicion Ode *
Epithalamion Ode *
Horatian Ode
Homostrophic Ode
Irregular Ode
Prothalamion Ode *

I must say I'm still sewing seams on the fabric of Specialized Rhyme Schemes in English Poetry Versification. The needle continues to vibrate on the English odes. I'm being reminded that the lyric is a verse or poem that is susceptible of being sung to the accompaniment of the lyre. That being said, the lyre serves to emphasize that lyric goes back to ancient times. This song being carried on the wings of the lyre gave out the intense personal emotion of the voice as suggested in the verses. A good working definition for lyric poetry is that it expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. It is not narrative poetry or verse drama that serve only to relate events in the form of a story. When we think of elegies, odes and sonnets these are all important genres of lyric poetry.

The general agreement has been that the stem-cells of the Greek and Latin odes were crafted for choral responses, and for individual singers. The artistic lyricism in poetry gave birth to the odes written to address a person or abstract entity, always serious and elevated in tone. When we amalgamate all the facts known about odes we can truly say this much. There are two traditional or classical prototypes, one Greek and the other Roman. The first was designed by Pindar, a Greek poet, who modeled his odes on the choral songs of Greek drama. They were encomiums, that is to say, they were written to give public praise, usually to athletes who had been successful in the Olympic games. Pindar patterned his complex stanzas in a triadic framework: the strophe and antistrophe had the same metrical form, the epode had another. The strophe told one side of the narrative, while the antistrophe conveyed its counterpart. The epode recounted the adventure. The second by Horace, the Ist Century bC Latin poet who wrote literary odes in regular stanzas known as the Horatian Ode. The Horatian Ode is a short lyric poem written in stanzas of two or four short verses. The Horatian ode is intimate and reflective. They are often addressed to a friend and deal with such motifs as friendship, love and the practice of poetry.

If we look into the archives of the 12th- through 15th-centuries, poetry has made tremendous strides throughout centuries. During the time that Henry Tudor acceded to the English throne as Henry VII (1457 – 1509) and right up to the mid-16th century has been called the transition from medieval to renaissance in English literature, and is linked to the Elizabethan Age with the reign of Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603). The themes of education and good government predominated the new humanist writing of the 16th century. The first half of the 16th century was also a notable period for courtly lyric verse in the stricter sense of poems with musical settings. The Elizabethan Age is considered a part of the general renaissance that swept Europe during the 14th- through 16th-centuries although this movement only reached England around the 1480s. The complete impact of the renaissance in England was felt during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan era is also known as the "golden age" of English literature to which poetry is one of it genres. A great deal of lyric poetry was produced during this period. The renaissance brought to England a revival of the old and classical literature of Greece and Rome and this was evident in the poetry of the age. It is in the Elizabethan age that we have grown to associate it with an extreme spirit of adventure, aestheticism and materialism and which became edged into Elizabethan poetry. Many poets displayed their skill in versification during this time and England came to be known as "The Nest of Singing Birds".

The excellent growth in poetry and other genres of literature during the Elizabethan era continued to flourish during the Jacobean era. The Jacobean era coincides with the reign of James I (1603-1625) of England. In Scotland where he was also King but with the title, James VI. The Jacobean era came after the Elizabethan age and preceded the Caroline era where Cavalier poets flourished. The notable poets of the Jacobean era bring to mind Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Francis Bacon, and John Donne since they are considered to have left stellar marks in English Literature. The popularity of classical odes (Horace, Pindar) remained very popular during the Jacobean era.

English odes no longer fit into the general schema of the classical odes we have come to know them, both in their structure and in their intent. However, to fully understand the "Pindaric" English ode we perhaps should turn to scholars like Ben Jonson, and Thomas Gray. They took particular pleasure in reproducing the general effect of Greek strophic arrangement of "turne", "counterturne"and "stand". Ben Jonson's "Ode to Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morrison" and Gray's "Bard" and "Progress of Poesy" are good examples from which to start.

It is recognized that English poets looked to the classical odes of Pindar and Horace to mutate them for their own purposes. How were these mutations carried out? Well, for starters, they changed the meaning of the ode since the days of the founders, Pindar and Horace by using the definition proffered by Edmund Gosse as any strain of enthusiastic and lyrical verse directed to a fixed purpose and dealing progressively with one dignified theme. With the definition now in place they started on restructuring the odes. This new definition for the ode allowed English poets to ignore the rigid structure so characteristic of the classical Horatian and Pindaric odes.

In the case of the Horatian ode they adopted uniform stanzas, each with the same metrical pattern, and tended generally to be more personal, more meditative, and more restrained. The 17th Century poet, Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) started the tradition of the English Horatian ode. However, after Marvell's "Horatian Ode Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" the term came to mean in English poetry any longer lyrical poem with a uniform stanza structure and is synonymous with the term, Homostrophic ode. Thus, both Shelly's "Ode to the West wind" and "Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" belong to the English Horatian Ode tradition, different though their form is, but because they have a regular stanza pattern they are Homostrophic odes.

During the Cromwell's regime (1649-1659) that began after Charles I of England was executed, Abraham Cowley in 1656 introduced the Irregular Ode through his flawed perception of Pindar's ode. As the story goes, it is said that Cowley whose life spanned 1618-1667 found out that he really could not master the intricacies of neither the Horatian or the Pindaric. So, he crafted his own style of ode out of the Pindaric model by opting for greater freedom in its structure but retained the serious nature of the subject matter. The Irregular Ode also known as the Cowley Pindaric Ode abandoned the recurrent strophic triad and instead permitted each stanza to be individually shaped, resulting in stanzas of varying verse lengths, number of verses, and rhyme scheme. This irregular stanzaic structure, that created different patterns to accord with changes of mood or subject became a common English tradition having gained tremendous popularity among English poets. The Cowleyan brand of ode became very popular but as the brand's inventor began loosing his popularity so too was the Irregular Ode during the late 17th century. Noticeably, the decline of Cowley's style ode came at a time of civil unrest in England during Cromwell's regime, the Restoration of the Monarchy and the ousting of James II from the English Throne. This lost in the high profile of Cowley and his Irregular ode gave rise in popularity to Cavalier poetry recognized for lightness in style and with secular themes.

Lately, I have been reading Cavalier poetry written by Thomas Carew and I have just finished reading his poem entitled "To Ben Jonson Upon Occasion of his Ode of Defiance annexed to his Play of the New Inn". The rhyme scheme he used in this poem is aabbccddee but the stanzas don't have a triadic framework and the verses don't have the same length. So I came to the conclusion that this is an Irregular Ode or what is known as a Cowley Pindaric Ode. I have scanned the ten verses in the first stanza of the ode to show you where the varying length of the verses occur. As you can see, there are five 4-foot verses, four 5-foot verses and one 3-foot verse. Have a look; then you may want to complete the scansion for the remaining stanzas. Have fun!

To Ben Jonson Upon Occasion of his Ode of Defiance annexed to his Play of the New Inn

‘Tis true, dear Ben, thy just chastising hand a
Hath fix’d upon the sotted age a brand a
To their swoll’n pride and empty scribbling due; b
It can nor judge, nor write, and yet ’tis true b
Thy comic muse, from the exalted line c
Touch’d by thy Alchemist, doth since decline c
From that her zenith, and foretells a red d
And blushing evening, when she goes to bed; d
Yet such as shall outshine the glimmering light e
With which all stars shall gild the following night. e

‘Tis true, dear Ben, thy just chastis ing hand
/ / / / u / / / u /
spondee spondee iamb spondee iamb 5-foot

Hath fix’d upon the sotted age a brand
/ / u u u / u / u /
spondee tribrach amphimacer iamb 4-foot

To their swoll’n pride and empty scribbling due;
u / / u / u / u / u /
iamb amphimacer amphibrach amphimacer 4-foot

It can nor judge, nor write, and yet ’tis true
u / u / u / u / / /
iamb iamb iamb iamb spondee 5-foot

Thy comic muse, from the ex alted line
u u / / u u / / u /
lesser ionic anapest amphimacer 3 foot

Touch’d by thy Alchemist, doth since decline
/ u u u / u u / / u
dactyl amphibrach iamb trochee 4-foot

From that her zenith, and foretells a red
u u u u / u / / u /
pyrrhic anapest bacchius iamb 4-foot

And blushing evening, when she goes to bed;
u / u / u / u / u /
amphibrach trochee amphimacer iamb 4-foot

Yet such as shall outshine the glimmer ing light
/ / u / / / u u / u /
spondee iamb spondee bacchius iamb 5-foot

With which all stars shall gild the follow ing night.
u / / / / / u u / u /
iamb spondee spondee bacchius iamb 5-foot

Nor think it much, since all thy eaglets may a
Endure the sunny trial, if we say a
This hath the stronger wing, or that doth shine b
Trick’d up in fairer plumes, since all are thine. b
Who hath his flock of cackling geese compar’d c
With thy tun’d choir of swans? or else who dar’d c
To call thy births deform’d? But if thou bind d
By city-custom, or by gavelkind, d
In equal shares thy love on all thy race, e
We may distinguish of their sex, and place; e

Though one hand form them, and though one brain strike a
Souls into all, they are not all alike. a
Why should the follies then of this dull age b
Draw from thy pen such an immodest rage b
As seems to blast thy else-immortal bays, c
When thine own tongue proclaims thy itch of praise? c
Such thirst will argue drouth. No, let be hurl’d d
Upon thy works by the detracting world d
What malice can suggest; let the rout say, e
The running sands, that, ere thou make a play, e

Count the slow minutes, might a Goodwin frame a
To swallow, when th’ hast done, thy shipwreck’d name; a
Let them the dear expense of oil upbraid, b
Suck’d by thy watchful lamp, that hath betray’d b
To theft the blood of martyr’d authors, spilt c
Into thy ink, whilst thou growest pale with guilt. c
Repine not at the taper’s thrifty waste, d
That sleeks thy terser poems; nor is haste d
Praise, but excuse; and if thou overcome e
A knotty writer, bring the booty home; e

Nor think it theft if the rich spoils so torn a
From conquer’d authors be as trophies worn. a
Let others glut on the extorted praise b
Of vulgar breath, trust thou to after-days; b
Thy labour’d works shall live when time devours c
Th’ abortive offspring of their hasty hours. c
Thou are not of their rank, the quarrel lies d
Within thine own verge; then let this suffice, d
The wiser world doth greater thee confess e
Than all men else, than thyself only less. e

But what is there to know about Thomas Carew? He was an English Cavalier poet born in London, England in 1594 and died in 1640 and he wrote Cavalier poetry. English Cavalier poets associated with Charles I (1525-1649) and his son, Charles II both kings of England (1649-1685). Most of their work was done between 1637-1660. Their poetry embodied life and culture of the upper-class, pre-commonwealth England, mixing sophistication with naiveté, elegance with raciness. They wrote poems on the courtly themes of beauty, love and loyalty with verses expressed with wit, shortness and directness. The use of such direct language displayed the individualistic personalities of Cavalier poets. Their poetry mirrored their indebtedness to both Ben Jonson and John Donne. Thomas Carew is listed among the leading Cavalier poets identified as Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Sir John Suckling.

Thomas Carew as a Cavalier poet, no doubt would have embraced the philosophical thought that 'life was much too enjoyable to attempt to understand and study deep and meaningful literature'. Cavalier poets were more focused on things that were meaningful to them such as day-to-day humanity and activities that coincided with their motto "Carpe Diem" translated as to "seize the day".

English poets of the early 17th century are roughly classified by divisions into Cavaliers and metaphysical poets. For example, John Donne being concerned with religion was labelled a metaphysical poet. Metaphysical poetry used complicated metaphors and unfeasible imagery. The division of Cavalier poets was more along the line approximating to secular and religion. However, this division was not exclusive since, for example, Thomas Carew was seen as both a secular and religious Cavalier poet by some critics.

The popularity of the English odes by the end of the 17th century took a nose-dive but became very popular again in the early part of the 18th Century. This comeback was attributed to poets like Matthew Prior, Jonathan Swift and Samuel Johnson.... Please wait for the continuation

Specialized Rhyme Schemes in English Poetry Versification - Part VIII B

2010-03-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Anacreon Ode *
Dorian Ode or Choric Ode/Pindaric Ode *
Cowleyan Pindaric Ode *
Epinicion Ode *
Epithalamion Ode *
Horatian Ode
Homostrophic Ode
Irregular Ode
Prothalamion Ode *

Andrew Marvell's ode, "Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" opened up the flood-gates of British History as seen in the mind's eye of a Barbadian whose formative years in education were during the time when Barbados was a colony of Great Britain, a name supplanted for the preferred name, England.

For decades, Barbados was referred to as "Little England". Visitors to the island saw Barbados as "more British than the British", sarcasm or not, this remark didn't sit too well with post-colonial Barbadians. The 21st Century shows truly how Barbados has evolved into its true identity. As I think more deeply now on the colonial history of Barbados, it is worth the while to note that our next door neighbor, the Americans were not the first group in the New World to battle against British Colonialism. Long before the American Revolution, the planters of Barbados mainly of English, Irish and Scottish decent formed a Legislative Assembly. Barbados was loyal to the Crown during Britain's civil wars and, following the beheading of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dispatched a force to establish his authority over Barbados. The invading fleet arrived in 1651 and by 1652 Barbados had surrendered. This culminated with the signing of the "Treaty of Oistins" on January 11, 1652 at "ye mermaid Tavern" located in the town of Oistin in the parish of Christ Church on the southern part of Barbados. Use the google satellite map link provided here to location the exact position of Oistins if you so desire. Oistins is a major fishing community with a modern fishing market.

This "Treaty of Oistins" contains a clause that reads "no taxes, customs, imports or excise shall be laid, nor levy made on any of the inhabitants of this island without their consent in a General Assembly". The articles of agreement in the Treaty of Oistins were drawn up to form Barbados' own parliament - the third oldest parliament in the entire Commonwealth. The Charter guaranteed government by a governor and a freely elected assembly, as well as freedom from taxation without local consent. When the British crown was restored in 1660, this Charter ironically provided Barbados with a greater measure of independence from the English monarchy than that of other British colonies.

Of vast significance to all Barbadians is the fact that the "Treaty of Oistins" became the model after which the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 was framed and which contains as well, the same concept of "No taxation without representation".

Andrew Marvell's ode "Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" therefore reflects on a few crucial months of 1650 in an England that was undergoing decisive social and cultural transformation. "Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland", is one of the finest Horatian odes to be produced by Marvell. The verses are short within thirty quatrains that make up the ode. These quatrains are made up of rhyming couples that use a regular form (two four-foot verses followed by two three-foot verses). So what we see here are that these quatrains are made up of tetrameter and trimeter couplets and a regular rhyme scheme aabb throughout the entire ode. Take a look.

Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland

1
The forward youth that would appear a
Must now forsake his Muses dear, a
Nor in the shadows sing b
His numbers languishing. b/aabb

2
'Tis time to leave the books in dust, a
And oil th' unused armour's rust, a
Removing from the wall b
The corslet of the hall. b/aabb

3
So restless Cromwell could not cease a
In the inglorious arts of peace, a
But thorough advent'rous war b
Urged his active star. b/aabb

4
And like the three-fork'd lightning, first a
Breaking the clouds where it was nurst, a
Did through his own side b
His fiery way divide. b/aabb

5
For 'tis all one to courage high, a
The emulous or enemy; a
And with such to enclose b
Is more than to oppose. b/aabb

6
Then burning through the air he went a
And palaces and temples rent; a
And Cæsar's head at last b
Did through his laurels blast. b/aabb

7
'Tis madness to resist or blame a
The force of angry Heaven's flame; a
And, if we would speak true, b
Much to the man is due, b/aabb

8
Who from his private gardens where a
He liv'd reserved and austere, a
As if his highest plot b
To plant the bergamot, b/aabb

9
Could by industrious valour climb a
To ruin the great work of time, a
And cast the kingdom old b
Into another mould. b/aabb

10
Though justice against fate complain, a
And plead the ancient rights in vain; a
But those do hold or break b
As men are strong or weak. b/aabb

11
Nature that hateth emptiness a
Allows of penetration less, a
And therefore must make room b
Where greater spirits come. b/aabb

12
What field of all the civil wars a
Where his were not the deepest scars? a
And Hampton shows what part b
He had of wiser art, b/aabb

13
Where, twining subtle fears with hope, a
He wove a net of such a scope a
That Charles himself might chase b
To Carisbrooke's narrow case, b/aabb

14
That thence the royal actor borne a
The tragic scaffold might adorn, a
While round the armed bands b
Did clap their bloody hands. b/aabb

15
He nothing common did or mean a
Upon that memorable scene, a
But with his keener eye b
The axe's edge did try; b/aabb

16
Nor call'd the gods with vulgar spite a
To vindicate his helpless right, a
But bowed his comely head b
Down as upon a bed. b/aabb

17
This was that memorable hour a
Which first assur'd the forced pow'r. a
So when they did design b
The Capitol's first line, b/aabb

18
A bleeding head, where they begun, a
Did fright the architects to run; a
And yet in that the state b
Foresaw its happy fate. b/aabb

19
And now the Irish are asham'd a
To see themselves in one year tam'd; a
So much one man can do b
That does both act and know. b/aabb

20
They can affirm his praises best, a
And have, though overcome, confest a
How good he is, how just, b
And fit for highest trust; b/aabb

21
Nor yet grown stiffer with command, a
But still in the republic's hand; a
How fit he is to sway b
That can so well obey. b/aabb

22
He to the Commons' feet presents a
A kingdom for his first year's rents; a
And, what he may, forbears b
His fame, to make it theirs, b/aabb

23
And has his sword and spoils ungirt, a
To lay them at the public's skirt. a
So when the falcon high b
Falls heavy from the sky, b/aabb

24
She, having kill'd, no more does search a
But on the next green bough to perch, a
Where, when he first does lure, b
The falc'ner has her sure. b/aabb

25
What may not then our isle presume a
While victory his crest does plume! a
What may not others fear b
If thus he crown each year! b/aabb

26
A Cæsar he ere long to Gaul, a
To Italy an Hannibal, a
And to all states not free, b
Shall climacteric be. b/aabb

27
The Pict no shelter now shall find a
Within his parti-colour'd mind; a
But from this valour sad b
Shrink underneath the plaid, b/aabb

28
Happy if in the tufted brake a
The English hunter him mistake, a
Nor lay his hounds in near b
The Caledonian deer. b/aabb

29
But thou, the war's and fortune's son, a
March indefatigably on; a
And for the last effect b
Still keep thy sword erect; b/aabb

30
Besides the force it has to fright a
The spirits of the shady night, a
The same arts that did gain b
A pow'r, must it maintain. b/aabb

Andrew Marvell's life on earth spanned from1621 to 1678. He was an English metaphysical poet from Winestead-in-Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, near the city of Kingston-upon-Hull. He is recognized as one of the greatest poets of the 17th Century. In the literary world, he is associated with John Donne, George Herbert and John Milton.

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Specialized Rhyme Schemes in English Poetry Versification - Part VIII A

2010-03-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

Anacreon Ode *
Dorian Ode or Choric Ode/Pindaric Ode *
Cowleyan Pindaric Ode *
Epinicion Ode *
Epithalamion Ode *
Horatian Ode
Homostrophic Ode
Irregular Ode
Prothalamion Ode *

Now that I finished reading "Ode to the Virginian Voyage" composed by Michael Drayton along the style of the Horatian ode I can tell you that it has trimeter and dimeter verses. This is a significant shift from his customary way of using long verses in his poetry. In this poem he used this rhyme scheme: abccab. Take a look.

Ode to the Virginian Voyage

You brave heroic minds, a
Worthy your country's name, b
That honour still pursue, c
Go and subdue! c
Whilst loit'ring hinds a
Lurk here at home with shame. b/abccab

Britons, you stay too long; a
Quickly aboard bestow you, b
And with a merry gale c
Swell your stretch'd sail, c
With vows as strong a
As the winds that blow you! b/abccaB

Your course securely steer, a
West and by south forth keep; b
Rocks, lee-shores, nor shoals, c
When Æolus scowls, c
You need not fear, a
So absolute the deep. b/abccab

And cheerfully at sea a
Success you still entice b
To get the pearl and gold, c
And ours to hold c
Virginia, a
Earth's only paradise! b/abccab

Where nature hath in store a
Fowl, venison, and fish, b
And the fruitful'st soil, c
Without your toil, c
Three harvests more, a
All greater than your wish. b/abccab

And the ambitious vine a
Crowns with his purple mass, b
The cedar reaching high c
To kiss the sky, c
The cypress, pine, a
And useful sassafras; b/abccab

To whose the golden age a
Still nature's laws doth give; b
No other cares that tend c
But them to defend c
From winter's age, A
That long there doth not live. b/abccAb

When as the luscious smell a
Of that delicious land, b
Above the seas that flows, c
The clear wind throws, c
Your hearts to swell a
Approaching the dear strand. b/abccab

In kenning of the shore, a
Thanks to God first given, b
O you, the happiest men, c
Be frolic then! c
Let cannons roar a
Frighting the wide heaven. b/abccab

And in regions far a
Such heroes bring ye forth, b
As those from whom we came; c
And plant our name c
Under that star a
Not known unto our north. b/abccab

And, as there plenty grows a
Of laurel everywhere, b
Apollo's sacred tree, c
You may it see c
A poet's brows a
To crown, that may sing there. b/abccab

Thy voyages attend, a
Industrious Hakluyt, b
Whose reading shall enflame c
Men to seek fame, c
And much commend a
To after-times thy wit. b/abccab

During his life Drayton was a disciple of Edmund Spenser. Also he showed tremendous admiration for the Horatian Ode structure named after its founder, Horace, the 1st Century-BC Latin poet.

The Horatian ode is a short lyric poem written in stanzas of two or four short verses. Horace's odes are intimate and reflective. They are often addressed to a friend and deal with such motifs as friendship, love and the practice of poetry. It is said too, that Drayton revised his work constantly by rewriting and reissuing them. Sometimes under different title, for the better or worse in the eyes of his critics. I believe that this behavior showed that he was indeed a stern critic of himself. Hence, as the oracles would have it, his odes of 1606 were revised and issued with additions and omissions in 1619.

Drayton's odes reflect acknowledgement of his indebtedness to Horace's poetic style as seen in his short verses. Also, a great testament of his zeal to come away from his customary long verses for which he is known, and for what his critics alluded to their long-windedness and quite boring. This criticism he addressed in his 1606 'Poems Lyric and Pastoral' that consist of odes and eclogues all nearly composed in short, decisive verses, a medium that English poetry has always found difficult.

Yes indeed, he used short verses for the Horace's style "Ode to the Virginian Voyage" but with sexain stanzas as oppose to restricting the stanzas to two or four verses. So what I can see is that he has shortened the verses but lengthened the stanzas. So then, would "Ode to the Virginian Voyage" be considered still as an Horatian ode or an Irregular ode because it does not follow the two- or four-verse stanza that typifies the Horatian ode? Yes, for I suppose Drayton would contend that it meets all the criteria for the Horatian spirit and even when it is presented in this manner with the rhyme scheme abcc ab. Take a look.

Ode to the Virginian Voyage

You brave heroic minds, a
Worthy your country's name, b
That honour still pursue, c
Go and subdue! c/abcc

Whilst loit'ring hinds a
Lurk here at home with shame. b/ab

Britons, you stay too long; a
Quickly aboard bestow you, b
And with a merry gale c
Swell your stretch'd sail, c/abcc

With vows as strong a
As the winds that blow you! b/ab

Your course securely steer, a
West and by south forth keep; b
Rocks, lee-shores, nor shoals, c
16 When Æolus scowls, c/abcc

You need not fear, a
So absolute the deep. b/ab

And cheerfully at sea a
Success you still entice b
To get the pearl and gold, c
And ours to hold c/abcc
Virginia, a
Earth's only paradise! b/ab

Where nature hath in store a
Fowl, venison, and fish, b
And the fruitful'st soil, c
Without your toil, c/abcc

Three harvests more, a
All greater than your wish. b/ab

And the ambitious vine a
Crowns with his purple mass, b
The cedar reaching high c
To kiss the sky, c/abcc

The cypress, pine, a
And useful sassafras; b/ab

To whose the golden age a
Still nature's laws doth give; b
No other cares that tend c
But them to defend c/abcc
From winter's age, a
That long there doth not live. b/ab

When as the luscious smell a
Of that delicious land, b
Above the seas that flows, c
The clear wind throws, c/abcc

Your hearts to swell a
Approaching the dear strand. b/ab

In kenning of the shore, a
Thanks to God first given, b
O you, the happiest men, c
Be frolic then! c/abcc

Let cannons roar a
Frighting the wide heaven. b/ab

And in regions far a
Such heroes bring ye forth, b
As those from whom we came; c
And plant our name c/abcc

Under that star a
Not known unto our north. b/ab

And, as there plenty grows a
Of laurel everywhere, b
Apollo's sacred tree, c
You may it see c/abcc

A poet's brows a
To crown, that may sing there. b/ab

Thy voyages attend, a
Industrious Hakluyt, b
Whose reading shall enflame c
Men to seek fame, c/abcc

And much commend a
To after-times thy wit. b/ab

Michael Drayton who was an English poet came to prominence in the Elizabethan Era. He was born in Hartshill, Warwickshire in 1563. He married Anne, the daughter of Sir Henry Goodeere. She became his inspiration for his 1619 'Idea' a voluminous set of sonnets. He died in London in 1631 on or close to his sixty-eighth birthday and a monument placed over him by the Countess of Dorset. It bears memorial lines attributed to Ben Jonson.

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Specialized Rhyme Schemes in English Poetry Versification - Part Vll

2010-03-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Anacreon Ode *
Dorian Ode or Choric Ode/Pindaric Ode *
Cowleyan Pindaric Ode
Epinicion Ode *
Epithalamion Ode *
Horatian Ode
Homostrophic Ode
Irregular Ode
Prothalamion Ode *

The links on this blog-list point to the topics previously discussed. If you wish to review those topics, simply click on the asterisk. Any discussion on odes is bound to cross paths with Thomas Gray who was born on Boxing Day of 1716 in Cornhill, London, England. This 18th Century English poet died at the age of 55 years on July 30, 1771. Thomas Gray began seriously writing poems has history says in 1742, and was also known as one of the "Graveyard poets" of the late 1700s. Though Pindaric meter was perceived as being better understood in the 18th Century, Pindaric odes lost their popularity. However, the 18th Century poet, Thomas Gray brought them back to the fore in his "genuine" Pindaric odes as seen in "The Bard" and "The Progress of Poesy" for which he considered his best works. Meanwhile the Cowleyan Pindaric style was revived around 1800 by William Wordsworth in one of his finest odes, "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood". Now, turning the spotlight back on Thomas Gray it must be known that having read the odes he considered his best works, I boldly share with you that their rhyme schemes truly reflect the structure of Pindaric odes. So here are the things I have found:

In the ode, "The Progress of Poesy" Gray used this rhyme schemes: abbaccddeeff abbaccddeeff aabbaccdedefafagg abbaccddeeff abbaccddeeff aabbaccdedefgfghh abbaccddeeff abbaccddeeff aabbaccdedefgfghh. Take a look.

The Progress of Poesy

1.1
Awake, Aeolian lyre, awake, a
And give to rapture all thy trembling strings. b
From Helicon's harmonious springs b
A thousand rills their mazy progress take: a
The laughing flowers that round them blow c
Drink life and fragrance as they flow. c
Now the rich stream of Music winds along, d
Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong, d
Thro' verdant vales, and Ceres' golden reign; e
Now rolling down the steep amain, e
Headlong, impetuous, see it pour; f
The rocks and nodding groves re-bellow to the roar. f

1.2
Oh! Sov'reign of the willing soul, a
Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs, b
Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares b
And frantic Passions hear thy soft control. a
On Thracia's hills the Lord of War c
Has curbed the fury of his car, c
And dropt his thirsty lance at thy command. d
Perching on the sceptred hand d
Of Jove, thy magic lulls the feathered king e
With ruffled plumes and flagging wing: e
Quenched in dark clouds of slumber lie f
The terror of his beak, and lightnings of his eye. f

1.3
Thee the voice, the dance, obey, a
Tempered to thy warbled lay. a
O'er Idalia's velvet-green b
The rosy-crowned Loves are seen b
On Cytherea's day, a
With antic Sport, and blue-eyed Pleasures, c
Frisking light in frolic measures; c
Now pursuing, now retreating, d
Now in circling troops they meet: e
To brisk notes in cadence beating d
Glance their many-twinkling feet. e
Slow melting strains their Queen's approach declare: f
Where'er she turns the Graces homage pay. a
With arms sublime that float upon the air f
In gliding state she wins her easy way: a
O'er her warm cheek and rising bosom move g
The bloom of young Desire and purple light of Love. g

2.1
Man's feeble race what ills await! a
Labour, and Penury, the racks of Pain, b
Disease, and Sorrow's weeping train, b
And Death, sad refuge from the storms of Fate! a
The fond complaint, my song, disprove, c
And justify the laws of Jove. c
Say, has he giv'n in vain the heav'nly Muse? d
Night and all her sickly dews, d
Her sceptres wan, and birds of boding cry, e
He gives to range the dreary sky; e
Till down the eastern cliffs afar f
Hyperion's march they spy, and glitt'ring shafts of war. f

2.2
In climes beyond the solar road, a
Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam, b
The Muse has broke the twilight gloom b
To cheer the shivering Native's dull abode. a
And oft, beneath the od'rous shade c
Of Chili's boundless forests laid, c
She deigns to hear the savage youth repeat, d
In loose numbers wildly sweet, d
Their feather-cinctured chiefs, and dusky loves. e
Her track, where'er the Goddess roves, e
Glory pursue, and gen'rous Shame, f
Th' unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame. f

2.3
Woods, that wave o'er Delphi's steep, a
Isles, that crown th' Aegean deep, a
Fields that cool Ilissus laves, b
Or where Maeander's amber waves b
In lingering lab'rinths creep, a
How do your tuneful echoes languish, c
Mute, but to the voice of anguish! c
Where each old poetic mountain d
Inspiration breathed around; e
Ev'ry shade and hallowed fountain d
Murmured deep a solemn sound: e
Till the sad Nine, in Greece's evil hour, f
Left their Parnassus for the Latian plains. g
Alike they scorn the pomp of tyrant Power, f
And coward Vice, that revels in her chains. g
When Latium had her lofty spirit lost, h
They sought, Oh Albion! next thy sea-encircled coast. h

3.1
Far from the sun and summer-gale, a
In thy green lap was Nature's Darling laid, b
What time, where lucid Avon strayed, b
To him the mighty mother did unveil a
Her awful face: the dauntless child c
Stretched forth his little arms, and smiled. c
"This pencil take (she said), whose colours clear d
Richly paint the vernal year: d
Thine too these golden keys, immortal Boy! e
This can unlock the gates of Joy; e
Of Horror that, and thrilling Fears, f
Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic Tears." f

3.2
Nor second he, that rode sublime a
Upon the seraph-wings of Ecstasy, b
The secrets of th' Abyss to spy. b
He passed the flaming bounds of place and time: a
The living Throne, the sapphire-blaze, c
Where Angels tremble while they gaze, c
He saw; but, blasted with excess of light, d
Closed his eyes in endless night. d
Behold where Dryden's less presumptuous car e
Wide o'er the fields of glory bear e
Two coursers of ethereal race, f
With necks in thunder clothed, and long-resounding pace. f

3.3
Hark, his hands the lyre explore! a
Bright-eyed Fancy, hovering o'er, a
Scatters from her pictured urn b
Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. b
But ah! 'tis heard no more— a
Oh! Lyre divine, what daring Spirit c
Wakes thee now? Though he inherit c
Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, d
That the Theban eagle bear, e
Sailing with supreme dominion d
Through the azure deep of air: e
Yet oft before his infant eyes would run f
Such forms as glitter in the Muse's ray, g
With orient hues, unborrowed of the Sun: f
Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant way g
Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate, h
Beneath the Good how far - but far above the Great. h

In the formation of "The Bard", Gray used this rhyme scheme: ababccddefefgg ababccddefefgg abcbacdeedfdfdghfhii ababccddefefgg ababccddefefgg abcdacdeedfgfghghfii ababccddefefgg ababcceebfbfgg abcbdceffeghihjkfkll. Take a look.

The Bard

1.1

'Ruin seize thee, ruthless King! a
Confusion on thy banners wait, b
Tho' fanned by Conquest's crimson wing a
They mock the air with idle state. b
Helm, nor Hauberk's twisted mail, c
Nor even thy virtues, Tyrant, shall avail c
To save thy secret soul from nightly fears, d
From Cambria'sÊ curse, from Cambria's tears!' d
Such were the sounds, that o'er the crested pride e
Of the first Edward scatter'd wild dismay, f
As down the steep of Snowdon's shaggy side e
He wound with toilsome march his long array. f
Stout Glo'ster stood aghast in speechless trance: g
'To arms!' cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quiv'ring lance. g

I.2

On a rock, whose haughty brow a
Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, b
Robed in the sable garb of woe, a
With haggard eyes the Poet stood; b
(Loose his beard, and hoary hair c
Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air) c
And with a Master's hand, and Prophet's fire, d
Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre. d
'Hark, how each giant-oak, and desert cave, e
Sighs to the torrent's aweful voice beneath! f
O'er thee, oh King! their hundred arms they wave, e
Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breath; f
Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day, g
To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay. g

I.3

Cold is Cadwallo's tongue, a
That hush'd the stormy main: b
Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed: c
Mountains, ye mourn in vain b
Modred, whose magic song a
Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-top'd head. c
On dreary Arvon's shore they lie, d
Smear'd with gore, and ghastly pale: e
Far, far aloof th' affrighted ravens sail; e
The famish'd Eagle screams, and passes by. d
Dear lost companions of my tuneful art, f
Dear, as the light that visits these sad eyes, d
Dear, as the ruddy drops that warm my heart, f
Ye died amidst your country's cries-- d
No more I weep. They do not sleep. g
On yonder cliffs, a griesly band, h
I see them sit, they linger yet, f
Avengers of their native land: h
With me in dreadful harmony they join, i
And weave with bloody hands, the tissue of thy line.' i

II.1

'Weave the warp, and weave the woof, a
The winding-sheet of Edward's race. b
Give ample room, and verge enough a
The characters of hell to trace. b
Mark the year, and mark the night, c
When Severn shall re-eccho with affright c
The shrieks of death, thro' Berkley's roofs that ring, d
Shrieks of an agonizing King! d
She-Wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs, e
That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled Mate, f
From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs e
The scourge of Heav'n. What Terrors round him wait! f
Amazement in his van, with Flight combined, g
And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind. g

II.2

Mighty Victor, mighty Lord, a
Low on his funeral couch he lies! b
No pitying heart, no eye, afford a
A tear to grace his obsequies. b
Is the sable Warriour fled? c
Thy son is gone. He rests among the Dead. c
The Swarm, that in thy noon-tide beam were born? d
Gone to salute the rising Morn. d
Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the Zephyr blows, e
While proudly riding o'er the azure realm f
In gallant trim the gilded Vessel goes; e
Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm; f
Regardless of the sweeping Whirlwind's sway, g
That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening-prey. g

II.3

Fill high the sparkling bowl, a
The rich repast prepare, b
Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast: c
Close by the regal chair b
Fell Thirst and Famine scowl a
A baleful smile upon their baffled Guest. c
Heard ye the din of battle bray, d
Lance to lance, and horse to horse? e
Long Years of havock urge their destined course, e
And thro' the kindred squadrons mow their way. d
Ye Towers of Julius, London's lasting shame, f
With many a foul and midnight murther fed, g
Revere his Consort's faith, his Father's fame, f
And spare the meek Usurper's holy head. g
Above, below, the rose of snow, h
Twined with her blushing foe,Ê we spread: g
The bristled Boar in infant-gore h
Wallows beneath the thorny shade. f
Now, Brothers, bending o'er th' accursed loom i
Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. i

III.1

Edward, lo! to sudden fate a
(Weave the woof. The thread is spun) b
Half of thy heart we consecrate. a
(The web is wove. The work is done.)' b
'Stay, oh stay! nor thus forlorn c
Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn: c
In yon bright track, that fires the western skies, d
They melt, they vanish from my eyes. d
But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowden's height e
Descending slow their glitt'ring skirts unroll? f
Visions of glory, spare my aching sight, e
Ye unborn Ages, crowd not on my soul! f
No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail. g
All-hail, ye genuine Kings, Brittania's Issue, hail! g

III.2

Girt with many a Baron bold a
Sublime their starry fronts they rear; b
And gorgeous Dames, and Statesmen old a
In bearded majesty, appear. b
In the midst a Form divine! c
Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-Line; c
Her lyon-port, her awe-commanding face, e
Attemper'd sweet to virgin-grace. e
What strings symphonious tremble in the air, b
What strains of vocal transport round her play! f
Hear from the grave, great Taliessin, hear; b
They breathe a soul to animate thy clay. f
Bright Rapture calls, and soaring, as she sings, g
Waves in the eye of Heav'n her many-colour'd wings. g

III.3

The verse adorn again a
Fierce War, and faithful Love, b
And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction drest. c
In buskin'd measures move b
Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain, d
With Horrour, Tyrant of the throbbing breast. c
A Voice, as of the Cherub-Choir, e
Gales from blooming Eden bear; f
And distant warblings lessen on my ear, f
That lost in long futurity expire. e
Fond impious Man, think'st thou, yon sanguine cloud, g
Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the Orb of day? h
To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, i
And warms the nations with redoubled ray. h
Enough for me: With joy I see j
The different doom our Fates assign. k
Be thine Despair, and scept'red Care, f
To triumph, and to die, are mine.' k
He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height l
Deep in the roaring tide he plung'd to endless night. l

It was widely felt during that period that Cowleyan Pindaric odes were birth from a misunderstanding of Pindar's metrical rules but John Dryden found much favor with them. John Dryden was from the county of Northamptonshire. Permit me to change gears a bit as my mind recalls the many months I have spent in Northamptonshire during the period of the Gulf War dubbed "Operation Desert Shield". I was elated when in my temporary home located in that county where Dryden was born I heard over televised news that President George H. W. Bush had achieved the war objectives against Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Saddam agreed to the cease fire and would mend his ways but he closed his televised remarks with these words, "my tail has been badly bruised but not my head" and with that remark attributed to Saddam Hussein my gut feeling was that Saddam Hussein had not changed his ways, but would take the time to lick his wounds and come back on the scene with acts more dreadful than before. Never thought though that President George W Bush, son of President George H. W. Bush would take up the struggle from where his father left off and that's another sad story in the archives for the 21st Century.

Now, As I was saying, the established fact is that John Dryden widely imitated with notable success the principles of the Cowleyan Pindaric odes in his own poetry. Here I cite three of his odes which support my contention: "The Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687", "An Ode, on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell" and "To the Pious Memory of the Accomplished Young Lady,
Mrs Anne Killigrew, Excellent in the Two Sister-arts of Poesy and Painting".

This rhyme scheme: abcdefefcdABAbb aabacaAaA ababcddb abba abbba aabcbc aabbcbc ababccddd has given shape to the "The Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687". Take a look.

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687

Stanza 1
From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony a
This universal frame began. b
When Nature underneath a heap c
Of jarring atoms lay, d
And could not heave her head, e
The tuneful voice was heard from high, f
Arise ye more than dead. e
Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry, f
In order to their stations leap, c
And music's pow'r obey. d
From harmony, from Heav'nly harmony A
This universal frame began: B
From harmony to harmony A
Through all the compass of the notes it ran, b
The diapason closing full in man. b

Stanza 2
What passion cannot music raise and quell! a
When Jubal struck the corded shell, a
His list'ning brethren stood around b
And wond'ring, on their faces fell a
To worship that celestial sound: c
Less than a god they thought there could not dwell a
Within the hollow of that shell A
That spoke so sweetly and so well. a
What passion cannot music raise and quell! A

Stanza 3
The trumpet's loud clangor a
Excites us to arms b
With shrill notes of anger a
And mortal alarms. b
The double double double beat c
Of the thund'ring drum d
Cries, hark the foes come; d
Charge, charge, 'tis too late to retreat. b

Stanza 4
The soft complaining flute a
In dying notes discovers b
The woes of hopeless lovers, b
Whose dirge is whisper'd by the warbling lute. a

Stanza 5
Sharp violins proclaim a
Their jealous pangs, and desperation, b
Fury, frantic indignation, b
Depth of pains and height of passion, b
For the fair, disdainful dame. a

Stanza 6
But oh! what art can teach a
What human voice can reach a
The sacred organ's praise? b
Notes inspiring holy love, c
Notes that wing their Heav'nly ways b
To mend the choirs above. c

Stanza 7
Orpheus could lead the savage race; a
And trees unrooted left their place; a
Sequacious of the lyre: b
But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder high'r; b
When to her organ, vocal breath was giv'n, c
An angel heard, and straight appear'd b
Mistaking earth for Heav'n. c

GRAND CHORUS
As from the pow'r of sacred lays a
The spheres began to move, b
And sung the great Creator's praise a
To all the bless'd above; b
So when the last and dreadful hour c
This crumbling pageant shall devour, c
The trumpet shall be heard on high, d
The dead shall live, the living die, d
And music shall untune the sky. d

This rhyme scheme: abbacdccad aabBcbdeedfef aabbccdd is associated with "An Ode, On the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell". Go and take a look.

An Ode, On the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell

Late Servant to his Majesty, and Organist of the Chapel Royal,
and of St. Peter's Westminster

I
Mark how the Lark and Linnet Sing, a
With rival Notes b
They strain their warbling Throats, b
To welcome in the Spring. a
But in the close of Night, c
When Philomel begins her Heav'nly lay, d
They cease their mutual spite, c
Drink in her Music with delight, c
And list'ning and silent, and silent and list'ning, a
And list'ning and silent obey. d

II
So ceas'd the rival Crew when Purcell came, a
They Sung no more, or only Sung his Fame. a
Struck dumb they all admir'd the God-like Man, b
The God-like Man, B
Alas, too soon retir'd, c
As He too late began. b
We beg not Hell, our Orpheus to restore, d
Had He been there, e
Their Sovereign's fear e
Had sent Him back before. d
The pow'r of Harmony too well they know, f
He long e'er this had Tun'd their jarring Sphere, e
And left no Hell below. f

III
The Heav'nly Choir, who heard his Notes from high, a
Let down the Scale of Music from the Sky: a
They handed him along, b
And all the way He taught, and all the way they Sung. b
Ye Brethren of the Lyre, and tuneful Voice, c
Lament his Lot: but at your own rejoice. c
Now live secure and linger out your days, d
The Gods are pleas'd alone with Purcell's Lays, d
Nor know to mend their Choice. c

This rhyme scheme: aabcdcdeeddffgghihhi aabbccdedeeAeAaa aabbbAccAddefefgg aabbccdedeffggg abcbccdddeeeffgfg abbacccdeededbb abbccddeeffggeeeffgghhii aabbcccddeeffgghiihjjj aabbc abcdbeffdgg aabbccddeeAaaffggg appears in "To the Pious Memory of the Pious Memory of the Accomplished Young Lady, Mrs. Anne Killigrew, Excellent in the Two Sister-arts of Poesy and Painting". Take a look.

To the Pious Memory of the Accomplished Young Lady, Mrs Anne Killigrew,
Excellent in the Two Sister-arts of Poesy and Painting

1
Thou youngest Virgin Daughter of the skies, a
Made in the last promotion of the blest; b
Whose palms, new-plucked from Paradise, a
In spreading branches more sublimely rise, a
Rich with immortal green, above the rest: b
Whether, adopted to some neighbouring star, c
Thou roll'st above us in thy wand'ring race, d
Or, in procession fixed and regular c
Moved with the heavens' majestic pace; d
Or, called to more superior bliss, e
Thou tread'st with seraphims the vast abyss: e
Whatever happy region be thy place, d
Cease thy celestial song a little space; d
(Thou wilt have time enough for hymns divine, f
Since Heaven's eternal year is thine.) f
Hear then a mortal muse thy praise rehearse g
In no ignoble verse; g
But such as thy own voice did practise here, h
When thy first fruits of poesie were given, i
To make thyself a welcome inmate there; h
While yet a young probationer h
And candidate of Heaven. i

2
If by traduction came thy mind, a
Our wonder is the less to find a
A soul so charming from a stock so good; b
Thy father was transfused into thy blood: b
So wert thou born into the tuneful strain, c
(An early, rich, and inexhausted vein.) c
But if thy pre-existing soul d
Was formed, at first, with myriads more, e
It did through all the mighty poets roll d
Who Greek or Latin laurels wore, e
And was that Sappho last, which once it was before; e
If so, then cease thy flight, O Heav'n-born mind! A
Thou hast no dross to purge from thy rich ore: e
Nor can thy soul a fairer mansion find A
Than was the beauteous frame she left behind: a
Return, to fill or mend the choir of thy celestial kind. a

3
May we presume to say that at thy birth a
New joy was sprung in Heav'n as well as here on earth? a
For sure the milder planets did combine b
On thy auspicious horoscope to shine, b
And ev'n the most malicious were in trine. b
Thy brother-angels at thy birth A
Strung each his lyre, and tuned it high, c
That all the people of the sky c
Might know a poetess was born on earth; A
And then if ever, mortal ears d
Had heard the music of the spheres! d
And if no clust'ring swarm of bees e
On thy sweet mouth distilled their golden dew, f
'Twas that such vulgar miracles e
Heav'n had not leisure to renew: f
For all the blest fraternity of love g
Solemnized there thy birth, and kept thy holyday above. g

4
O gracious God! how far have we a
Profaned thy Heav'nly gift of poesy! a
Made prostitute and profligate the Muse, b
Debased to each obscene and impious use, b
Whose harmony was first ordained above, c
For tongues of angels and for hymns of love! c
Oh wretched we! why were we hurried down d
This lubrique and adult'rate age e
(Nay, added fat pollutions of our own) d
T' increase the steaming ordures of the stage? e
What can we say t' excuse our second fall? f
Let this thy vestal, Heav'n, atone for all: f
Her Arethusian stream remains unsoiled, g
gUnmixed with foreign filth and undefiled; g
Her wit was more than man, her innocence a child. g

5
Art she had none, yet wanted none, a
For nature did that want supply: b
So rich in treasures of her own, c
She might our boasted stores defy: b
Such noble vigour did her verse adorn, c
That it seemed borrowed, where 'twas only born. c
Her morals too were in her bosom bred d
By great examples daily fed, d
What in the best of books, her father's life, she read. d
And to be read herself she need not fear; e
Each test and ev'ry light her muse will bear, e
Though Epictetus with his lamp were there. e
Ev'n love (for love sometimes her muse expressed) f
Was but a lambent-flame which played about her breast, f
Light as the vapours of a morning dream; g
So cold herself, while she such warmth expressed, f
'Twas Cupid bathing in Diana's stream. g

6
Born to the spacious empire of the Nine, a
One would have thought she should have been content b
To manage well that mighty government; b
But what can young ambitious souls confine? a
To the next realm she stretched her sway, c
For painture near adjoining lay, c
A plenteous province, and alluring prey. c
A chamber of dependences was framed, d
(As conquerers will never want pretence, e
When armed, to justify th' offence), e
And the whole fief, in right of poetry, she claimed. d
The country open lay without defence; e
For poets frequent inroads there had made, d
And perfectly could represent b
The shape, the face, with ev'ry lineament; b

7
And all the large domains which the dumb-sister swayed, a
All bowed beneath her government, b
Received in triumph wheresoe'er she went. b
Her pencil drew whate'er her soul designed, c
And oft the happy draught surpassed the image in her mind. c
The sylvan scenes of herds and flocks, d
And fruitful plains and barren rocks; d
Of shallow brooks that flowed so clear, e
The bottom did the top appear; e
Of deeper too and ampler floods f
Which as in mirrors showed the woods; f
Of lofty trees, with sacred shades, g
And perspectives of pleasant glades, g
Where nymphs of brightest form appear, e
And shaggy satyrs standing near, e
Which them at once admire and fear. e
The ruins too of some majestic piece, f
Boasting the pow'r of ancient Rome or Greece, f
Whose statues, friezes, columns, broken lie, g
And, though defaced, the wonder of the eye; g
What nature, art, bold fiction, e'er durst frame, h
Her forming hand gave feature to the name. h
So strange a concourse ne'er was seen before, i
But when the peopled ark the whole creation bore. i

8
The scene then changed; with bold erected look a
Our martial king the sight with rev'rence strook: a
For, not content t' express his outward part, b
Her hand called out the image of his heart, b
His warlike mind, his soul devoid of fear, c
His high-designing thoughts were figured there, c
As when, by magic, ghosts are made appear. c
Our phoenix Queen was portrayed too so bright, d
Beauty alone could beauty take so right: d
Her dress, her shape, her matchless grace, e
Were all observed, as well as heavenly face. e
With such a peerless majesty she stands, f
As in that day she took the crown from sacred hands: f
Before a train of heroines was seen, g
In beauty foremost, as in rank, the Queen! g
Thus nothing to her genius was denied, h
But like a ball of fire, the farther thrown, i
Still with a greater blaze she shone, i
And her bright soul broke out on ev'ry side. h
What next she had designed, Heaven only knows: j
To such immod'rate growth her conquest rose, j
That Fate alone its progress could oppose. j

9
Now all those charms, that blooming grace, a
That well-proportioned shape, and beauteous face, a
Shall never more be seen by mortal eyes; b
In earth the much-lamented virgin lies! b
Not wit nor piety could Fate prevent; c

10
Nor was the cruel destiny content a
To finish all the murder at a blow, b
To sweep at once her life and beauty too; c
But, like a hardened felon, took a pride d
To work more mischievously slow, b
And plundered first, and then destroyed. e
O double sacrilege on things divine, f
To rob the relic, and deface the shrine! f
But thus Orinda died: d
Heaven, by the same disease, did both translate; g
As equal were their souls, so equal was their fate. g

11
Meantime, her warlike brother on the seas a
His waving streamers to the winds displays, b
And vows for his return, with vain devotion, pays. b
Ah, gen'rous youth! that wish forbear, c
The winds too soon will waft thee here! c
Slack all thy sails, and fear to come, d
Alas, thou know'st not, thou art wrecked at home! d
No more shalt thou behold thy sister's face, e
Thou hast already had her last embrace. e
But look aloft, and if thou kenn'st from far f
Among the Pleiads a new-kindled star, f
If any sparkles than the rest more bright, g
'Tis she that shines in that propitious light. g

12
When in mid-air the golden trump shall sound, a
To raise the nations underground; a
When in the valley of Jehosaphat b
The judging God shall close the book of Fate; b
And there the last assizes keep c
For those who wake and those who sleep; c
When rattling bones together fly d
From the four corners of the sky, d
When sinews o'er the skeletons are spread, e
Those clothed with flesh, and life inspires the dead; e
The sacred poets first shall hear the sound, A
And foremost from the tomb shall bound: a
For they are covered with the lightest ground; a
And straight with in-born vigour, on the wing, f
Like mounting larks, to the New Morning sing. f
There thou, sweet saint, before the choir shall go, g
As harbinger of Heav'n, the way to show, g
The way which thou so well hast learned below. g

Wait for the continuation