Comments on Blissful Countryside

Blissful Countryside

Hate the restriction on living on folks in suburbia;

Lately she suffers from noise, and from hyperthermia;

Longing to swing in the trees and to feed animals and birds;

Whispering wind on eaves in her ears and the barking curs;

Smell the aroma of boiling sugar in atmosphere;

Hearing the galloping sound of a buggy in tow by mare;

Rural abode and so blissfully healthy for good life;

Loving the land and its sacred endowments with good wife;

Marvel at smiling sky kissing the fertile and sweet land;

Ponders annoying dilemma; concrete jungles withstand.

High on your feet, will you! Hear ye the planet, it cries out;

Littering bugs they disrupt in and out; so insane! Shout;

Speak will you, killers of earth, polluters, shameful, with hard-ears;

Polluting, burning and wasting of crops with ashes’ tears.

Now we behold the miracle of creation close-up;

Slaving away on the plantation days of yore pile-up;

Free to reminisce on porch and to savor the view;

Swinging with the trade winds in a hammock of sky blue;

Pastures again, the hillsides, and the fields very green;

Here ye this! Food for masses to live fat or lean...

“Blissful Countryside” has two stanzas and each stanza has ten verses. A poem with ten verses in each stanza is called a decastich. The poem also has rhyming couplets. A rhyming couplet is when two verses rhyme with each other and this poem is made up of couplets where each pair of verses rhyme with each other and they have the same meter. Also, it falls into the category of lyric poetry in the genre of an Idyll. What is lyric poetry? Lyric poetry presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation. Sonnets, odes, and elegies are examples of lyric poetry. Lyric poetry has a pleasing musical quality and often can be set to music. Examples of lyric poets of by-gone eras are William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Blake. What is an Idyll poem? An Idyll is defined as a pastoral poem relating to the countryside or to the rural way of life. It stresses the picturesque nature of rural living. The theme throughout the poem “Blissful Countryside” suggests a yearning for country living instead of the suburban or city living. The imagery in this short idyllic poem gives out a nostalgic feeling; there is also this impression in the poem that the environment is badly mistreated, and is seen as an affront to the Creator of earth. God in all his goodness and love for mankind gave this gift called earth to mankind to take good care of it and to enjoy its wonderful multifarious fruits it offers.

John Milton wrote a long lyric narrative poem in idyllic form called “L’ Allegro” (meaning “The Happy Man”) with one hundred and fifty-two verses in 1633, forty-one years before his death. Exhibit 1 shows verses one to twenty-four where it reflects on the pleasures of a beautiful spring day in two venues, the countryside and in the urban setting.

Exhibit 1

L’Allegro” A Poem by John Milton (1608-1674) (Excerpt)

Hence, loathed Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born, In Stygian cave forlorn, 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy! Find out some uncouth cell, Where brooding Darkness sprends his jealous wings, And the night-raven sings; There under ebon shades, and low-brow'd rocks, As ragged as thy locks, In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. But come, thou goddess fair and free, In Heaven yclep'd Euphrosyne,

And by Men, heart-easing Mirth; Whom lovely Venus, at a birth, With two sister Graces more, To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore: Or whether (as some sager sing) The frolick wind, that breathes the spring, Zephyr, with Aurora playing, As he met her once a-Maying; There on beds of violets blue, And fresh-blown roses wash'd in dew, Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair, So buxom, blithe, and debonair.

“Blissful Countryside” reflects the dactylic pentameter decastich with rhyming couples. The pentameter has five feet and is associated with qualitative meter or accentual-syllabic verse in English Language poetry. In accentual-syllabic verse every syllable counts in creating the proper rhythm and flow of the meter. Dactylic as a qualifier of the noun “dactyl” is a falling meter with a trisyllabic foot meaning that the foot is made up of three syllables; the first syllable is stressed and the two remaining syllables are unstressed. These stressed and unstressed syllables are identified by diacritical marks such as the ictus (⁄) for stressed syllable and the breve ( ˬ ) for unstressed syllable in the combination of one ictus and two breve ( ⁄ ˬ ˬ ). The words “poetry” and “dactylic” are useful mnemonics for remembering this stressed-unstressed-unstressed pattern in the dactyl foot. The foot is the unit of such measurement hence the measuring instrument is known as the metric foot. Meter means measurement.

What is a dactylic pentameter? Let’s revise some terms to help explain this one. Meter refers to the pattern of syllables in a verse of poetry. The most basic unit of measure in a poem is the syllable and the pattern of syllables in a verse, from stressed to unstressed and vice versa. Two syllables together (Hate the), three-syllable construction (re stric tion) or four-syllable construction (ce le bra tion), each of these examples measures one foot. These various foot types and their diacritical marks are shown in Exhibit 2 as follows:

Exhibit 2

SYLLABLE CONSTRUCTION
Disyllable Foot Types	Diacritical Marks	Trisyllable Foot Types	Diacritical Marks	Tetrasyllable Foot Types	Diacritical Marks
Iamb	ˬ  ⁄	Amphibrah	ˬ  ⁄ ˬ	Antipast	ˬ  ⁄ ⁄ ˬ
Spondee	⁄ ⁄	Anapest	ˬ ˬ  ⁄	Choriamb	⁄ ˬ ˬ  ⁄
Trochee	⁄ ˬ	Antibacchius	⁄ ⁄ ˬ	Diiamb	ˬ  ⁄ˬ  ⁄
Pyrrhic	ˬ ˬ	Baccius	ˬ  ⁄ ⁄	Dispondee	⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
		Cretic	⁄ ˬ ⁄	Ditrochee	⁄ ˬ  ⁄ ˬ
		dactyl	⁄ ˬ ˬ	Epitrite	⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ˬ
		Molossus	⁄ ⁄ ⁄	First Epitrite	ˬ  ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
		Tribrach	ˬ ˬ ˬ	Second Epitrite	⁄ˬ  ⁄ ⁄
				Third Epitrite	⁄ ⁄ ˬ  ⁄
				Fourth Epitrite	⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ˬ
				Greater Ionic	⁄ ⁄ ˬ ˬ
				Lesser Ionic	ˬ ˬ ⁄ ⁄
				Tetrabrach	ˬ ˬ ˬ ˬ
				Paeon	⁄ ˬ ˬ ˬ

The dactylic pentameter is a line of verse measuring five feet. The metrical foot of a poem is determined by the poem’s predominant meter. Metered poems will be quite regular, but in order to provide special emphasis in some places or to avoid monotonous rhythm of the “DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da” , poets often use substitutions in some of the poems verses as are evident in “Blissful Countryside”. These substitutes are taken from disyllable foot types (iamb, spondee, and trochee, pyrrhic) and from trisyllable foot types (amphibrach, anapest, antibacchius, baccius, cretic, molossus and tribrach).  In dactylic pentameter verses the spondee, trochee, cretic and anapest are often seen as substitutes. It is okay to have variations in the rhythmic flow of verses. However, when writing a metered poem the poet gets to choose the meter but is obligated to maintain the selected meter throughout the poem; it’s only the foot type that may be substituted; unless of course, the variation is set up regularly and clearly as part of the poem’s metrical pattern. When constructing the dactylic pentameter verse it is important to maintain the integrity of the verse by ensuring that the first foot is a dactyl and that no other substitute supersedes the dactyl. The foot in the third and fourth position in the verse is more likely to change. The last foot in dactylic pentameter verse tends to fall on a spondee.

In order to verify that the verses in “Blissful Countryside” are indeed dactylic pentameter verses it was essential to produce a diagrammatic representation of this poem by way of scansion. The scansion unlocks those techniques used in creating the rhythmic effects in the poem; it helps readers grasp layers of meaning in the poem, and to indicate how to read the poem aloud. The results of the scansion of the metrical effect of the poem are shown in Exhibits 3 and 4.

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

Comments on 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 now on telephone;

Sing him a song with melodious tone

From my country home, outside Montreal

And wait eagerly for the 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;

And my commitments to kids so candid;

And yet, 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.

The motivation to create the Hendianne sonnet came as a result of the interest shown by my husband and my youngest sister, Anne in my poetry; both them have since passed on. The tribute paid to them is shown by way of naming the sonnet the “Hendianne”. There are two methods being used in the creation of this 21^st Century sonnet.

1)         Use rhyming couples within a rhyme scheme aa aabbbb ccdd dd as follows:

An opening couplet. This introduces the theme or problem

                       

At the end of the opening couplet use sexain which is three couplets.  The sexain is where the theme or problem is developed.

At the end of the sexain use a quatrain which is two couplets, this signals a change in the speaker’s tone, mood or stance of the poem; this pivot, turn or shift is referred to as the “volta” in classical sonnets and is easily recognized by such initial words as “but”, “yet” or “and yet”;

Now, complete the Hendianne sonnet with a rhyming couplet. This ending couplet or “coda” provides a logical resolution to the problem.

           

           

2)         Another method of creating the Hendianne sonnet pattern is as follows:

Begin with the opening triplet (three verses). This introduces the theme or problem;

At the end of the opening triplet use a sexain which is three couplets. The sexain is where the theme or problem is developed;

At the end of the sexain use a triplet, this is where the speaker’s tone, mood or stance of the poem changes. This is the pivotal moment in the sonnet;

Now, complete the Hendianne sonnet with a rhyming couplet. This ending couplet or “coda” provides a logical resolution to the problem.

            The rhyme scheme for this method is somewhat flexible, but with only two requirements that the second verse in the opening triplet must rhyme with first verse of the sexain; and the ending couplet must rhyme. The poem, "Errol Barrow Day" uses method 2, so check it out. 

“Birthday Wishes from the Cloud” is structured around seven rhyming couplets partitioned as follows; opening couplet, sexain (three couplets), quatrain (two couplets) and closing couplet in iambic pentameter within a rhyme scheme aaaabbbbccdddd.

The sonnets of Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, Spenserian and Petrarchan brands have influenced greatly the creation of this highly structured sonnet dubbed the “Hendianne”.  Tables 1 and 2 show exemplars used to compare the structural variants among the different types of English Language sonnets from past centuries to the present.

 Table 1

Exemplars

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 now on telephone; Sing him a song with melodious tone From my country home, outside Montreal And wait eagerly for the 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; And my commitments to kids so candid; And yet, 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. Petrarchan Sonnet 159 In what bright realm, what sphere of radiant thought Did Nature find the model whence she drew That delicate dazzling image where we view Here on this earth what she in heaven wrought? What fountain-haunting nymph, what dryad, sought In groves, such golden tresses ever threw Upon the gust? What heart such virtues knew?— Though her chief virtue with my death is frought. He looks in vain for heavenly beauty, he Who never looked upon her perfect eyes, The vivid blue orbs turning brilliantly – He does not know how Love yields and denies; He only knows, who knows how sweetly she Can talk and laugh, the sweetness of her sighs. One day I wrote her name upon the strand (Spenserian Sonnet) One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide and made my pains his prey. Vain man (said she), that dost in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize; For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise. Not so (quod I); let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame; My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name: Where, when as death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew.

Miltonic Sonnet 19 When I consider how my light is spent, E're half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present  My true account, least he returning chide, Doth God exact day labour, light deny'd, I fondly ask; But patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts, who best  Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o're Land and Ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and waite. Shakespearean Sonnet 1 FROM fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty's rose might never die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding. Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee. Sonnet XXVI – To Sleep (Wordsworth) A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by, One after one; the sound of rain, and bees Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas, Smooth fields, white sheets of water and pure sky, By turns have all been thought of, yet I lie Sleepless; and soon the small birds’ melodies Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees; And the first Cuckoo’s melancholy cry. Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay, And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth: So do not let me wear to-night away: Without Thee what is all the morning’s wealth? Come, blessed barrier between day and day, Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!

Table 2

English Language Sonnets
	Composition	Rhyme Scheme	Pivot or Volta
Hendianne  21st Century West Indies	Example: “Birthday Wishes from the Cloud” Seven rhyming Couplets in iambic pentameter  proportioned as follows: opening couplet Sexain couplets Quatrain couplets Ending Couplet	aaaabbbbccdddd	Unravels at Quatrain couplets
Miltonic 17th Century England	Example: “Milton Sonnet 19” An enjambment Quatorzain in iambic pentameter	abbaabbacdecde	Slowly after Verse 8
Petrarchan Sonnet, 14th Century Italy	Example: “Petrarchan Sonnet 159” Octave (8 verses), Question Sexain (6 verses) and resolution	abbaabbacdedcd	Unravels slowly between octave and sexain
Shakespearean late 16th Century and early 17th Century England	Example: “Sonnet 1” Three quatrains and an ending couplet which provides the resolution to the problem in iambic pentameter.	abacdedefgfghh	Deep into sonnet after the second quatrain arrives
Spenserian Mid 16th Century England	Example: “One day I wrote her name upon the strand” Three quatrains and one couplet in iambic pentameter with interlocking rhyme scheme closed by a couplet in iambic pentameter.	ababbcbccdcdee	Slowly and logically sometimes after the second quatrain
Wordsworth 19th Century England	Example: Sonnet XXVI – To Sleep A quatorzain catalogue poem of sorts *A catalogue poem’s simplicity is used to teach children how to write a poem, using repetition and variation in listing objects, ideas, people or places.	abbaabbacdcdcd	Arrives at the last verse