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| © Isadora Gruye |
The "envelope" refers to the rhyme scheme: a b b a c d d c etc.. with rhyme b enveloped by rhyme a.
An envelope may also be a x x a with x unrhymed. Iambic tetrameter is the favoured meter for English verse.
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Margaret Bednar
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I am going to be a little more specific for this challenge by focusing on the In Memoriam Quatrain, popularized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam A.H.H.
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| library.sc.edu |
The In Memoriam Stanza is:
- Narrative verse
- Written in any number of envelope quatrains
- Metered: iambic tetrameter
Here is an example from Tennyson:
Something it is which thou hast lost,Some pleasure from thine early years.
Break thou deep vase of chilling tears,
That grief hath shaken into frost!
I have not given much guidance when it comes to meter in past challenges, but let us scan a few lines here in an attempt to demystify the Iamb. The red syllables carry the stress, while the blue is unstressed in reading.
Something / it is / which thou / hast lost
Some plea / sure from / thine ear / ly years
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Ellen Wilson
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My thanks go to the members of Real Toads who so willingly share their photography with us each week. These pictures are the secondary part of the Mini-Challenge offered as inspiration for our poetry. Anyone who would like to select a picture and write either an "In Memoriam" poem in a maximum of 4 envelope quatrains, or in Free Verse, if preferred, is welcome to do so. Please remember to acknowledge the name of the photographer if you upload an image to your blog.
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Susie Clevenger
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The Sunday Challenge is posted on Saturday at noon CST to allow extra time for the form
challenge. Please provide a link on your
blog back to Real Toads. We stipulate
that only poems written for this challenge may be added to the Mr Linky. Management reserves the right to remove
unrelated links, but invites you to share a poem of your choice on Open Link
Monday.
20 comments:
As soon as I saw Susie's photo, Kerry, all thoughts of quatrains and iambic tetrameter fled, replaced by the idea of hunger's death.
K
Ooo--I think I've done these before, but not lately...great challenge, as always Kerry--and cool pics as well. Off to see what percolates.
Already wrote mine, I'm just waiting for the chance to get on the computer to post it (my phone is useless for that). It was very challenging for me since I only ever write free verse. Thanks for this Kerry!
Oh wow this is fascinating-I love the challenge.
Susie s photo does give it quite the twist
This is a great challenge... one I will probably have to complete for Open Link Monday as I have no free time this weekend.
Very nice...the form suites the theme of these pictures well, imo...great challenge Kerry thanks always! :)
This was harder than I thought!
Kerry, thank you: I enjoyed the challenge. The tetrameter comes easily to me but I found myself replacing the initial iambe with a trochee now and then.
Hi Kerry, fun challenge. I'm used to a longer line - so this was a lot of fun. I added my own pic with Isadora's since I didn't want to play with hers but adding anything on iPad.
Thanks. k.
I'll be back with something, but I have to tell you now how wonderful it is to read your succinct, clear, inviting, illustrated challenges. Each is a work of art!
hi Kerry. hey, you know i love these forms and the photos are gorgeous, and unfortunately on-topic for me, as this weekend i've lost another friend. but i'm just writing to say i'm overwhelmed with death layered on top of life and i think it will be a while before i can write. love to toads. xoxo
Finally! This *was* harder than anticipated, and for me, didn't turn out to be very "mini." Now I have to attend to boring real life, but will be back to read this evening.
Dearest Marian, I am so sorry for your loss, sorry that the subject was too close to the bone. This business of death is hard to shake off.
So sorry Marian--didn't read your comment earlier--a hard topic for you I'm sure-- the time eventually does come when writing helps, I think, but getting past the slap and stun and numb--can take awhile. Best wishes and thoughts your way.
Thia is about as stressful as it can get for me! Very interesting challenge.
Huge sigh of relief. Today's dose of cemeteries and fears will last me for a while. Thank you again for the prompt and inspiration, Kerry.
I really enjoyed working with this form. I'm sure it will be one that I revisit very soon. I must admit to fudging a couple of times on the meter, but I think for the most part I hit on it.
This was a struggle. I didn't write it to form, but I did create a poem of rhyme which is definitely not my cup of tea. Thank you Kerry...I tried. :)
hi friends, thank you. i managed to write one, am posting it here and in the Monday open link, too. xoxox
I posted my challenge here and at Open Link Monday as I am late getting this done. I will read all of these and Monday's later tonight! See you later.
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