Sunday, April 17, 2016

Poetry To The Third Power








Greetings from the land of exile, toads and April poetry participants, hedgewitch here. I am currently engaged in some issues that are keeping me from writing regularly, so this year  I am not doing a poem a day during this month.  However, I am popping in today to hopefully give some inspiration to those who are. As always, feel free to scroll down to the section "Particulars of The Challenge" at the bottom if you find my tendency to babble on about things is getting too overwhelming.

~*~

Today on the third Sunday of April, I'd like you to consider the possibilities of the number three.

There are all kinds of literary references to this potent number, from  the three-part riddle of the sphinx to Shakespeare's  three weird sisters, to trilogies like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

There are also plenty of examples of the number three in myth and religions:  the Three Norns who care for the World Tree and weave the tapestry of men's fates, The Three Graces, the Christian Holy Trinity as well as various other triune deities and Triple Goddesses.


Norns Weaving, illus. by Arthur Rackham




Detail, Three Graces, from Primavera by Sandro Botticelli


Triple formed image of the goddess Hecate



One could also explore the significance of the number three in the Tarot or numerology.



3 of Swords, 1919 Rider-Waite Tarot deck




Particulars of the Challenge:

The idea of three can appear in any form and in any association in your poem: three objects, as in the floating heads shown in the painting by Odilon Redon below, three places, events, people, states of mind, directions, colors, or whatever, as long as you incorporate the number as a meaningful element of your piece.

The Sleep of Caliban, by Odilon Redon


Alternatively, for those who like to work in that style, you could also employ one  of the many  poetic forms which utilize the concept of three--like the tercet, the triolet, the terza rima, or perhaps the sevenling, which uses groups of three in specific relationships. Kerry has also done a mini-challenge which contains more information about three line forms.

However you want to explore poetry to the third power, please feel free to do so. Then link up below and give your fellow participants some visiting and commenting  love.

All images here are in the public domain, so feel free to borrow them if you'd like, with proper attribution.




22 comments:

Ornery Owl of Naughty Netherworld Press and Readers Roost said...

The three of swords was just the inspiration I required. My dear friend Rachel, who was a gifted clairvoyant, passed from the world on this day in 2009. I wrote a poem in her honor at poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com

Gemma Wiseman said...

My mind was buzzing on this one. I tried a tritina which I complemented with 3 images. Thanks so much.

brudberg said...

I really want to do something truly good for this prompt... but I can only think of simple threes... I will be back later when inspirations has struck.

Anonymous said...

Most excellent challenge, Hedgewitch! I have so many writing projects I'm nose-deep in right now, rather than dash off something far too insufficient for the fins this challenge calls for, I'm posting something from 2014 that speaks to it and will wait for a Play It Again to give it justice. Great to see you here, we need your magics so.

Fireblossom said...

I will see what I can do!

hedgewitch said...

So glad to see everyone up and about so early! I've just finished mine, and will be around shortly to visit, as well as catch up with yesterday.

Kerry O'Connor said...

Another stunning prompt! Thanks, Joy.

brudberg said...

Alas I got stuck on something more humorous... many excuses for being flippant on this fine prompt

Outlawyer said...

A great prompt for anytime and especially for this time of night. (I say, night, I mean April! It is about noon here but you can sense where I am at.) I may not post till very late or tomorrow. Thanks, Joy. k.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Hey everyone,

I agree, just looking at this delicious prompt stirs up my mischievous muse. I will be back with something bright and new.

Thank you Hedgewitch for the wonderful opportunity..!

Lots of love,
Sanaa

Magaly Guerrero said...

How can my witchy soul say no to three? ♥♥♥

De Jackson said...

Loved this, Hedge. Thank you!

grapeling said...

beware the ides of april. or post ides. 3 days past ides. ~

Susie Clevenger said...

Such a great prompt! We made it through all the rain to our first stop on our trip. I wrote a short piece..Road weary from the rain we drove in. I will definitely come back to this one at a later date. It deserves more than what I came up with.

Ellecee said...

Thank you hedgewitch, a challenge indeed. I have had a busy day and I'm late to the party, but I will let my pen be the guide today.

Gillena Cox said...

Experienced some wacky internet connection today. Anyway i'm online now saying Good Sunday Evening and thanks to Hedgewitch for a challenging prompt

much love..

Raivenne said...

It's been such a busy weekend with yesterday and today's entries coming in super late. It's not me best work, but it gets the job done.Hope everyone had an excellent weekend.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Oh, I'm late this time. The new prompt is up. But sometimes the ones that take the most time are the most rewarding to write. (Besides, I couldn't have written it earlier; it only happened this morning.)

Outlawyer said...

Hey Hedge--I got something belatedly up. A wonderful prompt that brought several different ideas and I wanted to try terza rima, but ended up with same old same old quatrains. Thanks. k.

Hannah said...

Thank you, for the challenge...I'm a little late and have a busy day so I'll have to catch up on reading.

Bekkie Sanchez said...

I had a poem started that I never finished on a draft so I finished it for this and did an animation to go with it. I hope that's alright.

What a great idea 3! I love fairy tales so I came up with one of my own for this fun challenge.

Sorry, I can't do every one of these this month I meant to, but my biking gets in the way. When I'm biking I do come up with a lot of ideas though.

I'll peek in on some of the other prompts for this month when I get a chance and will be around to read. Have a great week! Hugs!

Angie said...

Thanks for prompting us Hedge. I too, am not able to post every day. This one I'm coming back to.