Comments on "The Tear-filled Heart"

The Tear-filled Heart                                       Rhyme scheme: aaAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAb

What a travesty? (Set me free)                          aa

From brutality,   (set me free )    Refrain                          

Your ways are far too agrestic                          

The vulgarity; set me free                                 Aa

Your lies; no Qantas jets you own;

From depravity, set me free                              Aa

Even cats and dogs need respect

From bestiality, set me free                             Aa

In your mess you have lost your wits;

Have no chastity; set me free                          Aa

A rat will always be a rat;

From your vanity, set me free                         Aa    

Your Texas ranch is my prison

From calamity, set me free                             Aa

So many sad days I endure

From barbarity, set me free                            Aa

Trumpery is now my nightmare

From insanity, set me free                               Aa   

I see clearly you cannot love

You must Cassidy, set me free                       Aa

Your RiRi is on bended knees

From tragedy, please set me free.                   Aa


(July 17, 2015)


The Ghazal is a poem of five to fifteen couplets. It is made up of a short monorhyme. The first two verses rhyme with a repeated rhyme in the second of each succeeding couplet. The Ghazal usually deals with themes of love in a melancholy mood. The roots of the Ghazal blossomed in seventh-century Arabia and gained prominence in the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century much credit to such poets as Rumi and Haftz. In the eighteenth-century, the Ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu, a mix of the medieval languages of Northern India, including Persian. Among these poets, Ghalib is the recognized master.

Indian musicians such as Ravi Shankar and Begum Akhtar popularized the Ghazal in the English-speaking Diaspora during the 1960s. The poet Agha Shahid Ali introduced the Ghazal in its classical form to Americans.  Ali practiced his poetic craft in USA universities before cancer took his life in December of 2001. He left with English Poetry writers’ a legacy on how to write a Ghazal based on its traditional roots since it appeared from his many poetic statements he was not particularly a fan of Ghazal in free verse. His guidelines on how to write an English Ghazal suggested the following:

No enjambments between couplets

Couplets should be linked to a strict formal scheme

The rhyme scheme and refrain should remain the same throughout the Ghazal

Each line should have the same length inclusive of rhyme and refrain whether the verses 

are metrical or syllabic

The last couplet should be a signature couplet

The scheme of rhyme and refrain should emerge from the opening couplet of the Ghazal

These pointers have influenced how the poem, “The Tear-filled Heart” is written.  During the composition of this English Ghazal, every effort was made to ensure that the poem reflected this “constant longing”. The Ghazal is defined by this constant longing. This conforms to Ali's view. The poem, "The Tear-filled Heart" has eleven tetrameter couplets. A couplet has two successive verses of poetry, is usually of equal length and rhythmic correspondence with end-words that rhyme. The couplet is the shortest stanza form. It is joined frequently with other couplets, to form a poem with no stanzaic divisions.

A monorhyme is a poem in which all the verses have the same end rhyme. An end rhyme is a rhyme occurring in the terminating word or syllable of one verse of poetry with that of another verse, as oppose to internal rhyme.

The rhyme scheme used in this poem is -  aaAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAbAb representing as well the eleven stanzas in the poem. In a rhyme scheme, repeated rhymes are shown in capital letters. 

A refrain can sit on a stanza, verse, or phrase, generally pertinent to the central theme, which is repeated verbatim, usually at regular intervals throughout a poem, most often at the end of a stanza.

The Hendianne Sonnet Structure - Methods One and Two

For good or evil, modern technology is manifesting that it has the capacity to define who we are as a people; what we do and how we behave. You may wish to debate this among yourself. However, there is no denying that technology is shaped by tools (used in the broadest sense of the word) it is the making, the modification, the usage and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, craft, systems and methods of organization. Let me say though, a tool is any physical item that can be used to achieve a goal, especially if the item is used up in the process. In an informal way, it is used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. When tool is used in specific endeavors or activities different designations are ascribed such as; instrument, utensil, implement, machine or apparatus. Tools needed to achieve a goal go by the designation “equipment”. The knowledge of constructing, obtaining and using tools is technology.

Technology began way back when humankind converted natural resources into simple tools, example; controlling of fire for cooking, etc; the invention of the wheel and the possibilities it has created. By the mid 20^th Century, mankind had achieved a mastery of technology that allowed for the exploration of space. Weapons of mass destruction have progressed from clubs to nuclear weapons. In this 21^st Century modern technology is seen in the printing press, telephone and the internet. By and large, these have lessen the physical barriers of communication, thus we are able to interact on a global scale. Every aspect of human, animal, plant and other living creatures in the air, in the waters have been embossed with the tattoo of modern technology. Modern technology is the innovative platform that supersedes previous technologies by creating new or improved methods or procedures and tools by taking away relative painstaking drudgery from manual activity facilitated by various technology tools. As we approach more decades in this century new modern technology for good or evil, no doubt will emerge, for “the writing is on the wall”.

Where is modern innovation found? In such areas as construction technology, medical technology, animal and bird technologies, plant technology, marine technology, food technology, space technology, communication technology, education technology, information technology. It is against this background that the poems “Birthday Wishes from the Cloud” and “Cyber Sweethearts” were created in a new form called the Hendianne Sonnet.

Sonnets are lyric poems made up of fourteen verses that express the personal mood, feeling or meditation of a single speaker in the present tense. Lyrical poems may be set to music. Traditionally lyric poems were accompanied by the lyre a plucked string instrument associated with ancient Greece and consisting of a U-shaped frame with a crossbar from which the strings stretch down to the sound box. The Hendianne sonnet structure draws clues from renowned English sonneteers William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and the Italian sonneteer Petrarch. The name of the sonnet “Hendianne” is a combination of the surname of the poet’s husband Edgar Hendy who passed away on June 6, 1995 and her sister’s first name Angela who died on September 16, 2006.

Guidelines for Method One as well as an example of a poem structured along these guidelines are shown in Table 29a below and guidelines for Method Two are shown in Table 29b.  

Table 29a

Procedures Use rhyming pattern aa aabbbb ccdd ee	Examples
Introduce the theme or problem with Opening Couplet (two verses) rhyming aa	This day is special for Bobby Stallone;       a A guy who lives in the northern time zone; a
Develop the theme or problem with a Sexain (six verses) rhyming  aa bbbb	I better call him ow on telephone;                a Sing him a song with melodious tone            a From my country home, outside Montreal;    b While I wait eagerly for first snow fall;          b To give  him gifts I purchased in the mall,      b To match his tattoos, wrinkles, warts and all;  b
Show the turn or shift in speaker’s tone, mood or stance with a Quatrain (four verses) with any one of the following; “but”, “yet”, “and yet” rhyming ccdd	Yet brushing off hardships I have carried         c Loads of commitments, to kids so candid;       c Watching heaps of sugar ants dominate            d The icing which keeps dripping off the plate;    d
Use a Couplet to bring a logical solution or conclusion to the problem rhyming ee	Happy Birthday to you, my handsome mate;    e From the cloud, I wish for you all things great. e
Birthday Wishes from the Cloud This day is special for Bobby Stallone; A guy who lives in the northern time zone; I better call him ow on telephone; Sing him a song with melodious tone From my country home, outside Montreal; While I wait eagerly for first snow fall; To give  him gifts I purchased in the mall, To match his tattoos, wrinkles, warts and all; Yet brushing off hardships I have carried Loads of commitments, to kids so candid; Watching heaps of sugar ants dominate The icing which keeps dripping off the plate; Happy Birthday to you, my handsome mate; From the cloud, I wish for you all things great. © Paterika Hengreaves (August 2011)

 Table 29b

Procedures Use rhyming pattern aab bccdde eff gg	Examples
Introduce the theme or problem with Opening Triplet (three verses) rhyming aab	Did I tell you, just how special you are!       a The light that you emit lights my star,           a Beaming the glow of love we are sharing,     b
Develop the theme or problem with a Sexain rhyming bccdde	Your fingers on my heart strings repairing.       b Bill Gates has built for us this band new home, c Where free-spirited souls like ours can roam;    c Though the oceans are keeping us apart,            d Your nights do give my days a real kick-start;   d You way down under, I way up yonder;            e
Show the turn or shift in speaker’s tone, mood or stance with a Triplet with any one of the following; “but”, “yet”, “and yet” rhyming eff	But poles apart cannot this love falter;       e Since e-mails give me many a chuckle,       f And life is sweet in this cyber bubble;         f
Use a Couplet to bring a logical solution or conclusion to the problem rhyming gg	So, as we both face the Christmas season,   g Star of David shines in cyber Eden        g
Cyber Sweethearts Did I tell you, just how special you are! The light that you emit lights my star, Beaming the glow of love we are sharing, Your fingers on my heart strings repairing. Bill Gates has built for us this band new home, Where free-spirited souls like ours can roam; Though the oceans are keeping us apart, Your nights do give my days a real kick-start; You way down under, I way up yonder; But poles apart cannot this love falter; Since e-mails give me many a chuckle, And life is sweet in this cyber bubble; So, as we both face the Christmas season, Star of David shines in cyber Eden. © Paterika Hengreaves (August 2011)

Comments on Third Person Persona Objective in Poetry

Let us look at the scenario where the poet couches the poetic imagery using third person pronouns such as those identified in the Flowchart below:

Picture this, poet writes poems and immediately persons reading the poems see the poet as
the character, but a poet does not always want to be the character taking in all the oxygen from the audience; that is why poets from time to time write about their thoughts in as third person personas so as not to be seen as always a First Person Persona character.  The Third Person Persona character embraced by poets allows them to get their audience to view the events in their poems in a more detached way by using such third person pronouns as “she”, “he’, “it”, “him”, “they”, and “them”. What is significant here is that there are various levels of cognitive understanding when poets choose to write in a third person narrative. These levels are:


Third Person Persona Objective

Third Person Persona Limited Omniscient
Third Person Persona Omniscient

Third Person Persona Objective asserts that the poet is not a character in the story, but rather a detached observer, telling only the stories action and dialogue knows only what is seen and heard, not what the character thinks or feels. Here is are two examples found in “Sea Eggs” and "Caught in the Net" shown below.

Sea Eggs

(Third Person Persona Objective, Ballad Meter)

Sea-eggs, sea-eggs, folks at the door,

So fresh from broken shell;

Mobile hawkers are shouting out;

From Oistin town they sell.
On turtle-grass and H²⁰,

Moana lays her eggs;

In star-like cases white as snow;

They stand on pointed legs.


Urchins’ tests range the coral reefs;

Zero tests come ashore,

Flattened and brown with plenty lines;

They write their tests no more.


The fishing moon when it appears;

White sea-eggs are real ripe;

So divers raid Moana’s bed;

Eight months they ‘R’ on strike;


They crate the eggs in grape leaf cones;

Tied neatly bound with string;

The empty shells they hide in sand;

Their roes no longer cling.


Moana’s bed is slow to spring,

So kina dies from stress;

Poha is sweet that dish on plate;

But eggs need nests to rest.


All these eggs now folks must protect

From poachers’ greedy hold;

They fry the eggs in scrambled sand;

Call in the beach patrol.




Caught in the Net

(Third Person Persona Objective in Iambic Trimeter)


They chatted all night long

Mornings and evenings too

They talked on telephone

Danced to calypso beat


For hours they watched the cam

Lovers in Cyber space

The place were they first met

In real time at Christmas


They met and hugged boldly

They laughed and they did dined

Slept in the pale moonlight

They woke up to the songs


Of birds on hibiscus

Gymnastics of monkeys

Stealing fruits caught their eyes

The untamed world they see


In nature's wonder land

They frolicked on the beach

They watched the moon, the stars

Watch rainbows and sunsets


They swam in clear waters

Of the Caribbean

And gathered cute seashells

Took  lots of pictures too


They took mini-bus rides

Into the countryside

And they did lots more things

Typical lovers do


From their honeymoon isle

They said their goodbyes

They mounted gangway of

An electronic bird


This bird was very huge

And with its wings outstretched

Up, up, way in the sky

To their Kentucky home

English Poetry Versification Part III-B

The rhyme scheme sets the structure of the stanza in metered poetry. So it can be said that a stanza sits in a poem on a cluster of verses stitched together with a set pattern of meter and rhyme marked off by a space. It is clear to see in the example below that the poem has six stanzas. Do you agree?

Whimsical Echo
(In Open Form)

Of this you can be sure
For there is no need for you to ignore
And perhaps in time
When the clock does chime
And there is no more slime
Or slick on the roads out there
It will again be clean and clear.

An apple a day
Keeps the doctor at bay
Yea, not many bills to pay
So we joke and say
That frolic is an aspect of play
Causing laughter to burst in the air
Without a frown or a drop of a tear

Look how they did dance
And the way they did prance
They did not cry
Neither did they sigh
Too short is life for strife
So put away that knife
And forget about ending your life.

Such a handsome man was born in May
And his name was Ray
He walked the streets by day
With emotions that tossed
Twirled and kept him in a fray
As though like driftwood on some bay
The vagrant walked away.

Too many sad nights
When watching orchestrated fights
And without keeping the score
The boxer fell on the floor
His face with sweat and of gore
So the crowd rushes to the door
Not wanting to watch anymore.

As you should know
That the echo is like hello
On the rebound every time
The persistence of the chime
Or a sound is dropped
After its source has stopped
For replies
To which the echo supplies.

However, the rhyming pattern of verses does not create a rhyme scheme because of their varying nature in the various stanzas of the said poem. The poem is simply a rhyming poem.

Now, if we've got a poem with stanzas clearly showing an aa rhyme scheme then we have got couplet stanzas. While traditional couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic couplets. The poetic epigram uses the couplet form. Couplets can also appear in more complex rhyme schemes, for example, the Shakespearean sonnets end with rhyming couplets. The rhyme scheme for couplets is the simplest of all other rhyme schemes in poetry. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is written in rhyming couplets. Alexander Pope wrote in heroic couplets. See examples below:

Experience, though noon auctoritee
Where i this world, is right ynough for me

To speke of wo that is in marriage
For lordines, sith I twelf year was age--

(Chaucer's Canterbury Tales from The wife of Bath's Prologue)

I
But our Great Turks in wit must reign alone
And ill can bear a Brother on the Throne

II
Wit is like faith by such warm fools protest
Who is to be saved by one, must damn the rest

(Alexander Pope, Couplets on Wit)

Found not, in lands with all year scorching mix;
Olives reap by beating the trees with sticks.

The olives are crushed for their liquid gold;
Ancient Greek Homer called them so, I'm told.

(From the poem, The Olive Tree)

Pure water fosters health
Health builds blocks to real wealth

Adjectives stop its flow
Waterproof steals its glow

(From the poem, Speaking About Water)

Now let's look at some other traditional rhyme schemes and see how these have influenced the structure of stanzas respectively.

The abcb rhyme scheme has a stanza of four verses. Therefore it is a quatrain. This type of quatrain is popular with songs and nursery rhymes. The 'blackbirds in the pie' nursery rhyme and the 'White House Ballad have this type of rhyme scheme as shown below.

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
--------
On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built a pretty large White House, and
Those rooms are full of wit.

(From the poem, The White House Ballad)

The aabb rhyme scheme is credited to Edmund Clerihew Bentley and is called the Clerihew. The Clerihew is a pseudo-biographical quatrain with lines of uneven length more or less in the cadence of free verse or open form to be more precise. The Clerihew is characterized with humor that is whimsical rather than satiric. The name of the subject usually occupies the first line. However, way back Geoffrey Chaucer used the aabb rhyme scheme in his Canterbury Tales as shown in The Knight's Tale. The last example also shows the aabb being integrated into a tetrameter quatrain taken from Poetry nest.

Sir Humphey Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the Odium
Of having discovered sodium

The Knight's Tale - The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

859 Whilom, as olde stores tellen us,
860 Ther was a duc that highte Theseus:
861 Of Atthenes he was lord and governour,
862 And in his time such a conqueror

The Translation:

859 Once, as old histories tell us,
860 There was a duke who was called Theseus:
861 He was lord of Athens and governor
862 And in his time such a conqueror

From the poem, Wedding Daze

At the church the rector was there
Dressed, in a robe that was quite dear,
When compared with the bridal veil
She bought, from store within the vale.

The abab rhyme scheme is the most common and is made up of only two rhymes as seen in these examples:

The commoner's streets are not paved with gold;
So the hair comes down in any spotlight.
Top of the line comes from a different mould;
So a faux pas is very impolite.

(From the poem, The Faux Pas)

My favourite heroes are these in Bim
In this order I dare proclaim to you
Errol Barrow and Sobers full of vim
Adams and the rest I think of them too.

(From the poem, The Barrow that Built a Nation)

The aaaa rhyme scheme has a monorhyme structure. An example of this rhyme scheme is shown below:

She shines out in the dusk, and lo! the day is here, And all the trees flower forth with blossoms
bright and clear,
The sun from out her brows arises, and the moon, When she unveils her face, cloth hide for shame
and fear.
All living things prostrate themselves before her feet, When she unshrouds and all her hidden charms
appear;
And when she flashes forth the lightnings of her glance, She maketh eyes to rain, like showers, with
many a tear.

(Taken from Sir Richard Francis Burton's The Book of the thousand Nights and One Night: Tale of Ox and Donkey)

The abba rhyme scheme with its enclosed rhyme is a favourite of Lord Tennyson. The sample below is taken from his In Memorian

Calm is the morn without a sound,
Calm as to suit a calmer grief,
And only thro’ the faded leaf
The chestnut pattering to the ground:

The abcc rhyme scheme is a quatrain ending with a rhyming couplet as shown in the example below:

The Lord, we shall always adore,
But this Knight, take him from the square;
Cart him to a maritime place,
From whence his sails did make swift pace.

(From the poem, Nelson)

The abbc rhyme scheme blends well with Sapphic Poetry with Adonics. See examples below:

Summer outdoors bring to the fore a vision;
Mother earth gives life to the weak and hefty;
Stop and think, good grief the abuse aplenty;
Tainting forestscape.

(From the poem, Pinus Attack Not Really)

The aaba rhyme scheme is known as the Rubaiyat quatrain translated by Edward Fitzgerald as shown below:

And much as Wine has played the Infidel
And robbed me of my robe of Honour, well ...
I often wonder what the vintners buy
One half so precious as the stuff they sell

Fitzgerald translated a selection of about one hundred poems originally written in the Persian language of which they are about one thousand attributed to Omar Khayyam, the Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer. Fitzgerald called his translation the Rubaiyat.

The aabc rhyme scheme starts with a rhyming couplet as shown below:

Oval fruits in red attire hang down
All over the country they bring renown
Just like the Christmas tree with pretty balls
That is why they call me their Christmas palm.

(From the poem, The Christmas Palm)

The aba rhyme scheme creates a stanza of three verses known as the Tercet. When two verses enclose a blank verse it becomes an Enclosed Tercet. See examples below:

Flowers dancing at my window
Blow, fragrant kisses in showers;
Hours on end I watch stems grow.

(From the poem, Rumination)

From somewhere, out there, in the galaxy
Fraught with megabytes of time, on our hands
We have come with immense expectancy.

(From the poem, Dreaming)

The abb rhyme scheme also creates Tercet stanzas as shown in this nursery rhyme poem, The Cry of the Birdies:

Ah fluffing, puffing and picking
Out, each other’s nose, eyes this year;
Two birdies fighting in mid-air.

The nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children originally in the nursery. It is written in rhyming verse spice up with a dash of folklore.

The country of my birth was British colony until it became a self-governing nation in 1966, thus becoming a member of the British Commonwealth. This orientation quite naturally accounted for why our nursery rhymes were of European origin and because of the island’s close position to North America the influence of Americanized nursery rhymes were present. Those nursery rhymes taught in primary school stayed with me. When I became a mother in the post colonial era I recalled singing nursery rhymes such as: “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, “Pop Goes the Weasel”, “Ba Ba Black Sheep”, “Jack and Jill”, “Ring a Ring O’ Roses”, “Little Mary had a lamb” and many others. Traditional nursery rhymes are no longer taught in post colonial schools. Kids only know about them, probably from their elders who would have experienced the indoctrination of the colonial era with its pluses and minuses. In the era of colonial rule, nursery rhymes in education were taught because rote learning played a significant role in classroom instruction. The educators at that time firmly believed that this poetic style helped, to a great extent, to develop vocabulary and rudimentary counting skills (e.g. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe”). In addition, specific actions, motion, or dances were often associated with particular nursery rhyme songs.

The aaaaa rhyme scheme creates a monorhyme Quintet. The Quintet is also known as the Quintain, a stanza consisting of five verses. See example below:

On this bough I'll hang around in this heat,
And take lots of pictures for you to greet,
As I savor the moments when we meet;
I can't stop this feeling of so upbeat;
In this dream, we go strolling down the street.

(From the poem, I write so you know)

The aabbcc rhyme scheme shows a Sexain in couplets. A Sexain is a stanza of six verses. See examples below:

Big Mouth Women like this car;
Doors open wide from afar.
The best they take from the range;
Strange behavior on high wage.
Parked 'neath a woman's tongue tree,
That rattles querulously.

(From the poem, BMW)

Yes, we all make choices
Amid hype and noises.
The point is only this
Crackers you will dismiss.
Smile! Smile on Kemp your host
When up he pops the toast.

(From the poem, Choices)

The abcddee rhyme scheme in each stanza has shaped the Homostrophic Ode depicted in the poem, Ode to a Swing Bridge Bulldozed . This poem has ten stanzas. See example below:

With tears in our eyes, they bulldozed you down;
Took some of your parts to Heritage Park;
Vintage now in maritime museum;
Never more will you swing your arms again;
But your glory and honour shall remain;
With new technology you lift your frame;
From dust you rise, thanks to a City Dame

The ababcdecde rhyme scheme is used in the poem, Ode to the Hibiscus Bush in the stylistic shape of the Horatian Ode. See sample below

The tranquility of valley and hills,
Allows the mind to wander like the clouds,
Above the tree tops with their many thrills,
As nervous leaves rustle in mystic shrouds.
They shadow time each passing day anew,
And patiently wait for the rising sun,
To fill their chlorophyll sacs to the brim;
They thirst for summer rains and morning dew,
To spark their blooms before the day is done,
With Hawaiian pride that glows from each limb.

The abcbdedefgfghh rhyme scheme shaped the Shakespearean style Sonnet entitled, Sadness. See excerpt below:

Today, I am feeling a little low;
I find it very hard to sleep and rest;
And penned this poem with beats that are slow;
Surely, it is not the amateur's best;
Poems you know do have a unique way,
Of freeing the mind from the enclosed box;
Such creativity is on display;
So one behaves like a crafty old fox.
What sadness do we see on faces here?
He is gone, so too is his shaven face;
Silver buckles no longer shine me dear;
From the earth too at his footsteps and pace;
He parades in the celestial sky;
So he had to say this final goodbye.

The aabbccdd rhyme scheme fits well into this Monody poem, This Fort. An excerpt is shown below:

He taught me the rules of cricket;
And gave me a season ticket;
To view a field set specific;
His line and length were terrific;
Hopes held high for a Windies win;
I saw leg-before and off-spin;
Now clad indeed with widow's weeds;
My loving mate no longer breathes.

The ababcc rhyme scheme is featured in the poem, Ode to the Buckeye Tree. This Homostrophic ode has eight stanzas consisting of six verses each, a total of forty-eight verses. See excerpt below:

Legends haunt the buckeye tree so we've got,
One nutty nut in the pocket brings luck;
Killing rheumatism right on the spot;
Where free leaves caught in ground-baked nuts were stuck;
And soapy buckeye tears cured cholera;
During the mid nineteenth Century era.

The abacbc rhyme scheme is featured in the Sexain poem, Snow on the Mountain. As a matter of fact, the Sexain accommodates any rhyme scheme arrangement. See excerpt below:

Strolling in mum's garden on Christmas morn,
A beautiful sight caught her by surprise;
On her euphorbiaceae not a torn,
But a crown of wee white flowers appears
During a torrid Christmas caught her eyes;
Like snow on the mountain, that name it bears.

The ababcdcdefge rhyme scheme produces stanza of twelve verses. The significance of the punctuation marks can not be overlooked when notice is drawn to the period that marks the end of each quatrain. See excerpt below:

From coral sands this mansion they did make;
It stood in awe above their serfdom realm
To watch laborers burning at the stake;
While absentee landlords held fast the helm.
Their greed and bigotry smugly bestowed
On every highway, cart road and marl hole;
Their champagne bottles loudly did explode;
Folks prayed that better years for all would roll.
Yes, Divine changed your name to Erdiston;
So that blooms of knowledge would reign supreme;
Changing minds and dreams to reality;
On your sixty-foot frame, good deeds are done.

(From the poem, Ode to Erdiston)

The ababcdecde rhyme scheme shapes this beautiful poem entitled, Ode to the Magnolia Tree. See excerpt below:

Sweet Magnolia your inanimate eyes
See me, outside window daily watching
You, as you do your innate exercise
Amid the changing winds ever blowing;
You cast your verdant raiment without fear
To fall, like a ball in the opened hands
Of compost, cheered-on by the green posse;
He loathes your body's naked "wear and tear";
Your beauty sleep is all your head commands
When, heatless sun smiles with awesome mercy.

Then of course, we have what are known as specialized rhyme schemes associated with these poetic forms: the ghazal, jingle, limerick, pantoum, paradelle, sestina, triolet and the villanelle. So let’s explore them.

The aabbb aaBBB aaBBB aaBBB aaBBB rhyme scheme tells us much about the arrangement of the poem. First and foremost, the poem is a quintet with a string of repeated rhymes taken from the first stanza as shown in the capitalized letters and easily falls into the category of the jingle with trimeter verses as shown in the excerpt below:

Great chicks are in the nest
With heads, chest, legs and breast
Come in friends, says the wren
Click-cluck-click, sings the hen
Poesy quills fill the pen.

Fresh whole eggs pass the test
You select and are blessed
Come in friends, says the wren
Click-cluck-click, sings the hen
Poesy quills fill the pen.

(From the poem, The Nest)

Further analysis of this rhyme scheme shows that the repeated rhymes are couched in tercet verses which follow behind the couplet; effectively combining the couplet with the tercet into quintet stanzas.

The jingle is usually unbridled with pleasant sounding verses. Such verses flow with catch words and phrases with lots of rhymes and rhythm that, somehow stay in the mind for a very long time. The jingle has become a viable advertising tool. Its rhythm is captivating as a result of the alliterative nature of the sounds. Most people tend to label the jingle as nonsensical but it really does drive the commercial advertising in a sort of hypnotic way. Just think about the many jingles you hear, so there must be some profitable means involved for all. You would agree that there is a massive explosion of poetry in advertising.

The aA bA cA dA eA fA rhyme scheme is associated with the poetic form known as the ghazal. This rhyme scheme shows that the six stanzas are made from couplets. See excepts below:

I received a letter from Glee;
I think of things to bring me glee.

So sad that she has no home now;
They moved to the country with glee.

(From the poem, Just Memories)

I hate it when her wit goes out;
From here, I must attempt to flee.

Pam took her bags from Texas ranch;
In heat, from him, Pam had to flee.

(From the poem, Alone Again)

The ghazal is a poem of five to fifteen couplets. It is made up of a short monorhyme. The first two lines rhyme with a repeated rhyme in the second of each succeeding couplet. The ghazal usually deals with themes of love in a melancholy mood.

According to Agha Shahid Ali, the ghazal expert who practised his poetic craft in USA universities before his death in 2001 proffered these basic points when crafting a ghazal:

Create no enjambments between couplets

Couplets are linked by a strict formal scheme

The entire ghazal employs the rhyme and refrain

The refrain may be a word or a phrase

Each line must be of the same length inclusive of the rhyme and refrain (metrical or syllabic – the key to maintain consistency in length)

The last couplet may be (usually is) a signature couplet in which the poet may evoke his/her name in the first, second or third person

The scheme of rhyme and refrain occurs in both lines of the first couplet (that is how one learns what the scheme is) and then in only the second line of every succeeding couplet (that is, the first line of every succeeding couplet has no restrictions other than to maintain the syllabic or metrical length

Check to see that there is an epigrammatic terseness in the ghazal, but with immense lyricism, evocation, sorrow, heartbreak, wit

What defines the ghazal is a constant longing

The aabba rhyme scheme is designed for the limerick. Now, who said that you have to be Irish and live in the town of Limerick or be inebriated in order to write good limericks? If you know how to pull a punch line, make a pun and create rhythm and rhyme then go for it. As you write your limerick make sure that you make it with a stanza of five anapaestic verses. Don’t worry too much if the verses are not exclusively anapaestic because the amphibrach has three syllables and is widely considered as an anapaest. Therefore, an amphibrach is accepted as an anapaestic foot. The anapaest has two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It is also referred to as the antidactylus. The dactyl has one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables at the end of words. Here are some examples:

Amphibrach
(condition ) con di tion u / u
(infected) in fec ted u / u

Anapaest
(when the heart) when the heart u u /
(annalist) an na list u u /

Dactyl
(daffodils) daf fo dils / u u
(poetry) po e try / u u

When creating the limerick, make sure you have the following:

One couplet and one triplet within a rhyme scheme aabba
Made the first, second and fifth verses 3 metrical feet
Made the third and fourth verses 2 metrical feet
A pun to create the punch line in the fifth verse to heighten the laughter

Now examine the limerick below and judge whether it has met the above criteria

A little young woman in the heat
She would hurriedly eat on the beat
With Nicole on a break
From a goad while that snake
Looping her there only two feet

(From the limerick poem, She Asks)

Limericks often contain hyperbole, onomatopoeia, idioms, and other figurative devices. Here is another example of a limerick shown below:

It is often than not in the mind
For he thinks it is often unkind
When the heart is jealous
And so very callous
He then thinks of the lover's behind

(From the limerick poem, Laugh it Off)

The a1b1a1b1 B2c2B2c C3d3C3d3 D4e4D4e4 E5f5E5f5 F6g6F6g6 G7h7G7h7 H8i8H8i8 I9A9I9A9 rhyme scheme is associated with the pantoum poem. It is not as complicated as it looks. The capital letters indicate the repeated verses and rhymes and the numbers signify the stanzas where they are located. So as you can see the rhyme scheme indicated a pantoum poem with nine stanzas made of quatrains respectively. So this we do know that:

The pantoum is a fixed form consisting of quatrains of varying verse length. The second and fourth verses of stanzas are repeated to form the first and third lines of the succeeding stanza. The first and third verses of the first stanza form the second and fourth of the last stanza, but in reverse order. The opening and closing verses of the poem are identical. However, there are no restrictions as to the number of stanzas for a pantoum poem. Below are some excerpts taken from the pantoum poems:

On account of these marauding bush tail rats;
The environment we must protect from this ragtag lot;
So very fat, they look like tabby cats;
They need to be dealt with on the spot.

The environment we must protect from this ragtag lot;
Because of their sticky underwear that really clings
They need to be dealt with on the spot;
We say, make their pelts into all sorts of things

Because of their sticky underwear that really clings;
On willows and polar outerwear;
We say, make their pelts into all sorts of things
That possums’ wear

(From the pantoum poem, That Possums' Wear)

This a1b1a1b1 B2c2B2c2 C3d3C3d3 D4e4D4e4 E5f5E5f5 F6g6F6g6 G7h7G7h7 H8A8H8A8 rhyme scheme indicates that the pantoum poem, has eight stanzas. An excerpt is shown below:

Tsunami is only nodding in a water-bed, this creep
After its Yuletide feast
This beast, fakes that it is asleep
In the deep ocean in the east;

After its Yuletide feast
Drunk with human gore
In the deep ocean in the east
And drenched in water and much more

(From the pantoum poem, The Asian Tsunami of 2004)

The pantoum form is credited to Victor-Marie Hugo, the French poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, visual artist, statesman and human rights campaigner. He was born on February 26, 1802 in Besancon, France. He died on May 22, 1885. His pantoum form depicted here is the western version of the original Malaysian form, “Pantun”.

Wait for the continuation

Poetry and the Entrepreneur

What are the commonalities between poetry and the entrepreneur? No doubt, the initial response to this question may well be that if there are any, the commonalities are not worth mentioning. Such a nonchalant reaction could be the result of a conditioned mind set into thinking that business is about the profit motive and the myriads of ways to do so. Whereas, poetry is an emotional avalanche and more than not, creates the abstract side of the world. In saying this, think of the many emerging poets who say that they write from the heart thus giving credence to the aforementioned statement. Some folks are also led falsely into thinking that poetry deals strictly with emotions whether real or surreal and not the bottom line in business.

However, I share a different perspective on the issue at hand as you continue to stay with me on this matter. As a person engrossed deeply in the poetic world, it is with surety to say that there is a fair amount of poetry-driven businesses around. Poems range from the whimsical about business and an explosion of poems found in advertisements. During my career life in academia, poetry became part of the learning tool in the interdisciplinary teaching lessons. Such great blessings flowed from students to students and from students to teacher and vice versa. Now that I have become an educator emeritus, poetry both structured and unstructured remains my passion. The added pleasure is the ability to write in many forms and styles. The entire environment is my daily muse and not once has there been a writer’s block that many poets of the day seem to be experiencing. The commonalities between the entrepreneurial spirit and poetry are there, weilding much importance. Essentially they are creators.The entrepreneurs, like poets invent new ways to connect people, ideas and organizations. Entrepreneurs and poets make great strides on intuitive behaviour. They create meaning where it didn’t seem to exist, with their head, heart and hands to the plough, as it were. They communicate this to their audience. They make the vision real, so to speak. No apologies required therefore, in saying that starting up a business equates with writing a poem. Poetry is like NISE (National Initiative on Service Excellence) for improving business writing. The rules for good poetry writing are applicable to good business prose as verse. These two communication devices must rely on good content, be concise, be organized and must have style. Go into any established business entity and tour the various offices and you are bound to come across types of poems hanging from the walls or being perched on the work station serving as motivators for those who read them.

Poetry is invigorating in so many ways. Perhaps because of this, it is not unusual to find a significant portion of business persons delving into poetry either as readers, writers or reviewers. No doubt, they will say that poetry helps them to maintain equilibrium as they sort through challenges which come with the daily activities of business. The paradigm shift that is sweeping the 21st Century commercial world at unprecedented haste is engendering greater creativity in the life of the working masses. The organizational structures are increasingly relying on the input not only from management but from non-managerial employees to the lowest level. The organization is as strong as its weakest link so everybody’s input is a source of organizational strength, growth and wealth. Thus, the acknowledgement of input from all levels of the organization is a means of helping employees to overcome habitual fear and reticence of expressing themselves through nurturing the “soul” within the enterprise. This nurturing of the “soul” is developed through dramatic groups and poetry writing as a way to express deeper emotions.

The goal of contemporary business leaders worth their salt is not hooked solely on the profit motive (the bottom line) but as a matter of grave concern, the provision for new avenues to look at life in business whereby helping employees find greater satisfaction. In saying this, the collaboration is seen in the many poetic statements that have found their way into the organizations’ mottoes, slogans and mission statements. You can believe this as well, poetry has become the blood of any nation’s cultural milieu. Check out the national cultural foundations of your country and tell me this is not so, my challenge to you. The next point worth mentioning in this discourse is how businesses use poetry in advertising their products.

Advertising is a method whereby consumers are made aware of the various product lines on sale. Poetry and sound lyrics are increasingly being used to draw the public in with the goal of getting the public to see the goodness of their product lines and purchase them. If this were not the case, why do we see and hear advertisements laced with poetic utterances. The jingle is at best and example of this. So what is a jingle?

A jingle is usually an unbridled pleasant sounding verse flowing with catchy words and phrases with lots of rhymes and rhythm that somehow stay in the mind for a very long time. Its rhythm is captivating as a result of the alliterative nature of the sounds. Most people tend to label a jingle as nonsensical but it really does drive advertising in a sort of hypnotic way. Just think about the many jingles you hear, so there must be some profitable inducement worth pursuing.

If I may say so myself, I think that the poem, "The Nest" could very well serve as an advertisement for bloggers of poetry with google accounts. It has five stanzas with a rhyme scheme aabbb and each verse is made up of six syllables. A closer examination at the stanzaic lines reveals that they are Trimeter verses.

A trimeter is a line of verse consisting of three metrical feet or three Dipodies.

A Dipody is a double foot; a unit of two feet.

©Paterika Hengreaves
December 2008/Barbados