Specialized Rhyme Schemes in English Poetry Versification - Part VIII A

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.

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