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sherlock60Welcome once again to my poetry page!
I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative and then be inspired to write a poem related to it in some way. All forms of poetry are permitted, and further down the page there is a selection you might like to consider using over the coming weeks.
This week my featured form is the ballad.
Shadow Poetry gives this definition:
A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter but most frequently deals with folklore or popular legends. They are written in straight-forward verse, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are suitable for singing and, while sometimes varied in practice, are generally written in ballad meter, i.e., alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with the last words of the second and fourth lines rhyming.
That is, they are written with the rhyme scheme ABCB: lines 1 and 3 having the meter te TUM te TUM te TUM te TUM, and lines 2 and 4 having the meter te TUM te TUM te TUM.
As there is a reference to La Belle Dame Sans Merci in the Doctor’s story, you might find it interesting to attempt the scheme used in that poem. Again, it uses ABCB, but the first 3 lines in each stanza are in iambic tetrameter (te TUM te TUM te TUM te TUM), and the fourth line uses either 2 iambs (te TUM te TUM) or an anapaest followed by an iamb (te te TUM te TUM).
Here is my example poem La Belle Dame Sans Tea-set, using the latterly described meter:
A tea-set left by my mama
A set I kept most carefully
I rue the day I let it near
Two-two-one-B
I make a cup, both sweet and strong
Once supped, I offer “More, sir?”
He gestures widely his assent
And flings my saucer.
And so begins my tale of woe
As piece by piece all meet their fates:
He stands aghast, upends the tray
And breaks the plates.
I do not know why I’m surprised
With him you get more downs than ups
With resignation I observe:
There go the cups.
He tries his best to save what’s left
I should applaud him in his struggles
But anger carries on expanding
As he milk jug-gles.
The sugar bowl is crushed to dust
and silver tong is snapped from tong
I wish to stick them up his nose
Is that so wrong?
And now frustration overspills—
I lift and hurl my poor tea-pot.
It’s stopped by Mr. Holmes’s head
And that’s the lot.
As always, this is simply something to consider for the future. Any form of poetry is welcome this week—and every week! Here are a few suggestions for you:
221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, beeswing, blackout poetry, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, colour poems, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, epigram, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, found poetry, ghazal, haiku, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, limerick, lyric poetry, mathnawī, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, quintilla, renga, riddle, rime couée, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, sonnet, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle
Please leave all your poems inspired by The Three Gables in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!
Warm regards,
Mrs. Hudson
I hope each week you will read Dr. Watson’s delightful narrative and then be inspired to write a poem related to it in some way. All forms of poetry are permitted, and further down the page there is a selection you might like to consider using over the coming weeks.
This week my featured form is the ballad.
Shadow Poetry gives this definition:
A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter but most frequently deals with folklore or popular legends. They are written in straight-forward verse, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are suitable for singing and, while sometimes varied in practice, are generally written in ballad meter, i.e., alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with the last words of the second and fourth lines rhyming.
That is, they are written with the rhyme scheme ABCB: lines 1 and 3 having the meter te TUM te TUM te TUM te TUM, and lines 2 and 4 having the meter te TUM te TUM te TUM.
As there is a reference to La Belle Dame Sans Merci in the Doctor’s story, you might find it interesting to attempt the scheme used in that poem. Again, it uses ABCB, but the first 3 lines in each stanza are in iambic tetrameter (te TUM te TUM te TUM te TUM), and the fourth line uses either 2 iambs (te TUM te TUM) or an anapaest followed by an iamb (te te TUM te TUM).
Here is my example poem La Belle Dame Sans Tea-set, using the latterly described meter:
A set I kept most carefully
I rue the day I let it near
Two-two-one-B
I make a cup, both sweet and strong
Once supped, I offer “More, sir?”
He gestures widely his assent
And flings my saucer.
And so begins my tale of woe
As piece by piece all meet their fates:
He stands aghast, upends the tray
And breaks the plates.
I do not know why I’m surprised
With him you get more downs than ups
With resignation I observe:
There go the cups.
He tries his best to save what’s left
I should applaud him in his struggles
But anger carries on expanding
As he milk jug-gles.
The sugar bowl is crushed to dust
and silver tong is snapped from tong
I wish to stick them up his nose
Is that so wrong?
And now frustration overspills—
I lift and hurl my poor tea-pot.
It’s stopped by Mr. Holmes’s head
And that’s the lot.
As always, this is simply something to consider for the future. Any form of poetry is welcome this week—and every week! Here are a few suggestions for you:
221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, beeswing, blackout poetry, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, colour poems, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, epigram, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, found poetry, ghazal, haiku, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, limerick, lyric poetry, mathnawī, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, quintilla, renga, riddle, rime couée, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, sonnet, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle
Please leave all your poems inspired by The Three Gables in the comments on this post. I look forward to seeing them!
Mrs. Hudson
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Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 08:06 am (UTC)To Bohemian threat of disgrace,
No word is inspired,
It’s lazy and tired –
And who gives a damn for the case?
RE: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 12:29 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 08:04 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 12:37 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 08:05 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 12:54 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 08:18 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 03:53 pm (UTC)Re: Limerick
Date: 2016-02-21 08:18 pm (UTC)Re: Angsty clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:21 pm (UTC)RE: Re: Angsty clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 01:05 pm (UTC)Re: Angsty clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:57 pm (UTC)RE: Re: Angsty clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 01:05 pm (UTC)Re: Angsty clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 08:19 pm (UTC)RE: Re: Angsty clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 09:54 pm (UTC)A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 11:57 am (UTC)With carpet bags and trunks and boxes.
A widowed woman all alone;
A hen amongst foxes.
The first’s in France: he smiles and says:
“I’ll keep your baggage safe from harm.”
The lady sighs and gestures to
A stern gendarme.
And on to Bern: a friendly pair
Keep her relentlessly in their grip.
“Do let us walk you to the bank.”
She gives them the slip.
The next in Spain: a “gentleman”
admires so her jewels and pearls.
But Mr. Holmes has taught the dame
Baritsu for girls.
Dear foxes everywhere pay heed
Perhaps you should pass on the word
This lady is no chicken—she’s
A tough old bird.
Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 12:24 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 01:03 pm (UTC)But I regard you as being far from elderly, madam. It is a compliment when I try to get things past you.
S. H.
Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 02:14 pm (UTC)RE: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 12:30 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 01:04 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 12:38 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 01:06 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 03:55 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 06:12 pm (UTC)Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-21 08:24 pm (UTC)Telegram to 221b: FELLOW IN MILAN TOLD IMPLAUSIBLE STORY ABT AFRICAN ORPHANAGE STOP LAST OF MORIARTY GANG ROUNDED UP STOP MISSED ONE MR HOLMES MM
Re: A ballad
Date: 2016-02-22 01:10 am (UTC)Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:18 pm (UTC)Had a part she played
Her use at an end
She returned to her friend.
RE: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:32 pm (UTC)Re: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:39 pm (UTC)RE: Re: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 01:03 pm (UTC)Re: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:39 pm (UTC)Re: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 12:41 pm (UTC)Re: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 01:07 pm (UTC)Re: Clerihew
Date: 2016-02-21 02:15 pm (UTC)Your poem, Mrs H
Date: 2016-02-21 12:26 pm (UTC)RE: Your poem, Mrs H
Date: 2016-02-21 12:29 pm (UTC)Re: Your poem, Mrs H
Date: 2016-02-21 12:48 pm (UTC)Re: Your poem, Mrs H
Date: 2016-02-21 12:47 pm (UTC)attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 01:08 pm (UTC)Avoiding truth in glare
Let's turn the full light on you both
And see how well you fare
Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 02:01 pm (UTC)And re Mrs. Klein: well played, madam. We all have things that we need to keep hidden and try and edit out for other people. As a woman, Mrs. Klein has her fading beauty; as men, Holmes and Watson have their reputations. And both are necessary to survive in Victorian society.
Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 02:09 pm (UTC)I thought the line about the half-light was just completely unnecessary and double standard writ large.
Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 02:20 pm (UTC)Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 02:32 pm (UTC)RE: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 06:24 pm (UTC)Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 08:14 pm (UTC)Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 08:26 pm (UTC)Re: attempt ballad one stanza
Date: 2016-02-21 09:57 pm (UTC)