I wish you and those you share this Sunday with a very peaceful day, filled with love and the sharing of chocolate. There will not be a photographer featured this weekend, but I offer this very beautiful piece of music, Heritage by Pat Metheny, for your listening pleasure.
The artwork you see featured on the clip is by the talented John-Mark Gleadow. If you have a similar passion for bookshelves as I do, I'm sure you will find inspiration for words among them.
In addition, I am introducing you to the Kyrielle. The name kyrielle derives from the Kýrie, which is part of many Christian liturgies. It is a French rhyming form that originated in troubadour poetry and is written in quatrains, in which each quatrain contains a repeating line as a refrain (usually appearing as the last line of each stanza). Originally, the phrase "Lord, have mercy", or a variant on it, was used as a refrain. Each line within the poem consists of only eight syllables. There is no limit to the number of stanzas a Kyrielle may have, but three is considered the accepted minimum.
As an example, here is the opening stanza of A Lenten Hymn, written by Thomas Campion, sourced on Wikipedia:
A Lenten Hymn
With broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry:
Thy pard’ning grace is rich and free:
O God, be merciful to me.
Some popular rhyme schemes for a Kyrielle are: aabB, ccbB, ddbB, with B being the repeated line, as in the following example:
My Bouquet
Some days I sing, some days I cry.
My soul's the one determines why.
Sometimes it laughs, sometimes it mourns.
On my bouquet are many thorns.
Wake up each day, face a dark cloud.
My happiness wrapped in a shroud.
The day begins; to me it scorns.
On my bouquet are many thorns.
Lay down my head, dark nights begun.
With the sad setting of the sun.
From all my sorrows my heart mourns.
On my bouquet are many thorns.
Copyright © 2003 Floria Kelderhouse
The alternate rhyme scheme is also popular for this form: abaB, cbcB, dbdB. For those who do not like a strict adherence to rhyme, the second line of each quatrain may be unrhymed: axaR, bxbR, cxcR, dxdR, etc. with R being the repeated line.
A variation of this form is the Kyrielle Sonnet, in which line 1 and line 4 become an unrhymed couplet after three stanzas. In the example given above, a sonnet could be made by adding:
Some days I sing, some days I cry
On my bouquet are many thorns.
If you find time to write in this form, please share your work with us, or perhaps you will find inspiration in the music and artwork featured here, and prefer to write something in your usual style. There is no time limit to our creativity, so I would encourage you to come back to this idea at a more convenient time, if you are unable to write this weekend.
As usual, I will post the challenge on Saturday at noon, in order to allow extra time for those who want to tangle with the form.
14 comments:
Great book selection. I love the Gone With the Wind series. I haven't read them in years.
Happy Easter weekend, Toads. :)
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
love. it. right up my alley. thank you, kerry!
I really enjoyed the music video and the bookshelves! I wonder how the new generation scopes out a new acquaintance, with no bookshelves to sneak a look at? Power up their kindle? That just doesn't seem the same.
Very interesting and attractive form, and a challenge that definitely gets me thinking. Thanks Kerry.
Here is a quick jump to a wonderful gallery of Gleadow's Bibliotheque series:
http://www.sapergalleries.com/Gleadow.html
I tried my hand in the form...your feedback is appreciated.
Thanks and Happy Easter to everyone ~
Heaven, I love your poem, the repeated line is beautiful.
Thanks for this prompt, Kerry! I'm new to writing poetry forms so this was definitely a good challenge. Thank you :)
Thank you Kerry for the prompt, but i doubt I can write in it. I do so poorly with rhyme.
That gallery link is amazing Kerry--hard to believe they are oil paintings--I assumed they were photos.Also enjoyed the music this time through--thanks so much for this prompt, I enjoyed transforming a rather wild bunch of free verse into that very song-like, strict rhythm--fun!
It's bedtime here, but I'll be around tomorrow to see what everyone's done.
Happy Easter, all who celebrate.
I used the form to write an Easter kyrielle!
i was not successful in writing today, but will attempt the form again later...did post my share as inspired by the prompt...have a blessed Easter! Off to read your poetry friends.
I accidentally posted the wrong poem first--my wordle poem--but I suppose you can read that too. My real response to your Kyrielle challlenge is the second on--Real Life. I started and wrote one poem about a beautiful morning but decided something more real would please me more! I am really enjoying your S A series, Kerry.
I've decided my muse has a really sick sense of humor. As I was working on writing my kyrielle today, she whispered to me "Use your wordle words." I'd yell at her, but I need her! It was a nice challenge, my first attempt in that form. Thanks so much, Kerry!!
okay, i said it was up my alley, but it's harder than it seems. i think it's the meter, it's challenging to make it real and not cloying. i've worn myself out! thank you for the challenge, Kerry. hope everyone had a lovely day!
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