Dizain is a decastich, a whole poem made up of a single Ballade Supreme stanza, a 10 line stanza.
Structure:
Line length: 8 or 10 syllables, iambs are not a prerequisite.
Rhyme Scheme: a b a b b c c d c d
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For those who would like to know how these stanzas become part of the whole, I have included the format of the full Ballade form, but this is not a requirement for today's challenge.
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| Source: Goodreads.com |
The Ballade, itself, could not be called a mini-challenge, but I will leave instructions here for those who may like to attempt the full poem.
Also known as "The Prince", because it traditionally began with the salutation: "Prince!" as its opening word, in homage to the judges of Medieval poetry competitions, the Ballade uses the basic Huitain form for its stanzas, with the addition of line 8 becoming a repeated refrain and the poem ending on a climactic envoy of 4 lines. Read more about the form, and see an example HERE.
The entire poem consists 28 lines: 3 eight line stanzas (with the final line repeated throughout) and the 4 line envoy.
Rhyme Scheme: a b a b b c b C a b a b b c b C a b a b b c b C and the envoy b c b C
For those even more intrepid, The Ballade Supreme takes the Dizain form to a 35 line completed poem. Find the instructions HERE.
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| Prince |
For those who prefer the Free Verse option, your theme is "The Prince" (or "The Princess").
PS. There seems to be some confusion as to what this challenge entails. It calls only for the ten line Dizain, and for neither the Ballade nor Ballade Supreme, which I have noted here for the sake of interest only.
Well, this certainly is a challenge! My poetic head is spinning. But thank you for educating me about poetry. I will give it a try but may end up with the free verse prompt.
ReplyDeleteWell I tried my hand in it ~
ReplyDeleteHappy day to everyone ~
Ha! Prince! "Oh baby, I'm a star..."
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Peggy's head is spinning, too. I studied the challenge, then just had to go with the free verse option.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Heaven's dizain now. I don't dare read anyone else's until mine has been posted.
K
This was indeed a challenge! I worked on it for hours. And used a lot of energy. But it was fun. It was extremely satisfying ending it. Thank you for the challenge!
ReplyDeleteholy hell, kerry! i'm just seeing this (on Sat night) and have this huge report i've given over my weekend to write. but i so want to do this and i will! not quickly, probably :)
ReplyDeletehappy weekend everyone!
Hey, everyone! The challenge is only for the Dizain - the 10-liner. The other forms of the Ballade are just for our edification!
ReplyDeleteI'm still a bit fuzzy in the brain department after taking some potent back pills for the last two weeks, but I love these short form mini-challenges, and I've copied the rhyme scheme and info for later when my brain is back in full working order. Thanks Kerry--and that ee cummings poem on your linked page is amazing.
ReplyDeleteHi there!! Kerry! This is rugged...I started this last night and had the first two stanzas and then I realized I had two entirely separate rhyme schemes for each stanza!! At that point I had already really labored mentally over that much and it was getting late...I bailed on it...today I have another family event...I hope to try and write this later...we'll see what state my brain is in...I do have some end rhyme words set aside and some ideas so there's something there but it would take too much this A.M. and I'm already getting the "eye," I'm the only one not ready to go!! Lol Happy day Toads!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm confused because only one stanza is required for the Dizain. The extended Ballade is not today's challenge - just for the sake of interest.
ReplyDeletewe are all attention-span impaired, it appears, because over here i'm working on the 4-stanza sucker, too. hah!
ReplyDeleteSorry I botched the first link. :(
ReplyDeletePlease delete it.
Oh!!! Kerry...I got confused, too when the post said that the Ballade itself could not be considered a mini-challenge...any way your clarifications are perfectly clear...lol sorry I think I was making it harder than it needed to be. Now I have another silly-busy day with Grammy...this is the last week of it though...phew...
ReplyDeleteSmiles and thank you!!
Slowly, I am catching up with sleep and food and poetry. Here's a little thought, perhaps a smile.
ReplyDeleteHiya Kerry,
ReplyDeleteI hope it is not too late to show the dizain. Love to hear your opinion as I usually miss a facet.
Fun to try, but I wonder how significant the final line is supposed to be. A summing-up? A chorus? A different perspective? I tried to compare it to the last two lines of a shakespearean sonnet.
aprille.me
There...I finally got back to add a few lines the one I had started and call it a "Dizain!"
ReplyDelete