The Sunday Mini-Challenge

It is time to deck the halls, mull the wine, wrap the gifts and turn our thoughts to giving and sharing. For those who would like to turn their minds to Christmas poetry this weekend, perhaps as an added gift to attach to a present, I offer the basics of Common and Hymnal Measure, with the option of an 8-line verse form.

© Teresa Perin

Eden Hills Photography

Common Measure is a standard 4-line stanza written in alternate lines of iambic tetrameter (8 syllables, with the beat on the even syllables) and iambic trimeter (6 syllables, with the beat on the even syllables too.). The rhyme scheme is as follows with x signifying a single unstressed syllable, and x a single stressed syllable.

x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x c
x x x x x b

© Ellen Wilson

Hymnal Measure is basically the same stanza form, except the
c rhyme is replaced with an a rhyme. Source


x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b

© Margaret Bednar
i and I

The Common or Hymnal Octave is an 8-line poem based on the forms above:

Common Octave

x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x c
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x c
x x x x x b

Hymnal Octave

x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x x x a
x x x x x b                                                                                                       

Many thanks to the friends and members of Real Toads who generously share their photographic talent with us year round. Please remember to acknowledge the name of the photographer if you include her image on your blog.

© Isadora Gruye

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.