Gymnotide
8377 | Scorpaeniform
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- Posts
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- Age 31
- New York City
- Seen May 22, 2016
These are just some poems I had to write for a closed poetry project in school.
Remember that they are closed forms of poetry, so that means there are specific rules about syllable count, rhyming, and word stress. Of course, this drove me mad and it made me have to cut corners several times.
We were also encouraged to use more poetic techniques for extra points - alliteration & assonance & consonance, onomatopoeia, synesthesia, synecdoche & metonymy, simile & metaphor, personification, juxtaposition & paradox, caesura,.
If something doesn't sound right, blame it on the assignment.
After a month of constant explication, your mind changes a little. Er, it stuck with me.
I'll admit I'm not the best writer.
I don't really like to write about happy things.
You can't use any of the following works without permission.
Sestina: form 6-6-6-6-6-6-3, the last word of each line in every stanza must be repeated in the following order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) becomes (6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 3). The final stanza uses (2, 5 / 4, 3 / 6, 1).
Tanka: form 5-lines, syllable count 5-7-5-7-7.
Villanelle (x2): form 3-3-3-3-3-4, rhyme is A-B-A-A-B-A-A-B-A-A, etc. Final stanza has rhyme scheme of A-B-A-A. The last lines of stanzas 2 and 4 are the same as the first line of stanza 1. The last lines of stanzas 3 and 5 are the same as the last line of stanza 1. Note: The first one I took poetic license on and broke the rules a bit. The title is pronounced "KNEE-MO-SIGH-KNEE."
Sonnet: Form 14-lines, iambic pentameter (5 iambs in each line, iamb: two syllable form with one stress, second syllable receives stress) - 10 syllables per line. Rhymed either ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG (Petrarchan) or ABBA-ABBA-CDE-CDE (Elizabethan).
I may edit and add a pantoum if I feel like writing one.
Ask for interpretations and references if you do not understand. I'll PM you.
Remember that they are closed forms of poetry, so that means there are specific rules about syllable count, rhyming, and word stress. Of course, this drove me mad and it made me have to cut corners several times.
We were also encouraged to use more poetic techniques for extra points - alliteration & assonance & consonance, onomatopoeia, synesthesia, synecdoche & metonymy, simile & metaphor, personification, juxtaposition & paradox, caesura,.
If something doesn't sound right, blame it on the assignment.
After a month of constant explication, your mind changes a little. Er, it stuck with me.
I'll admit I'm not the best writer.
I don't really like to write about happy things.
You can't use any of the following works without permission.
Sestina: form 6-6-6-6-6-6-3, the last word of each line in every stanza must be repeated in the following order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) becomes (6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 3). The final stanza uses (2, 5 / 4, 3 / 6, 1).
Spoiler:
Ragnarök
In the midst of the Old Gods' quarrel, a rapier descended
From the heavens and impaled the Earth,
The impact driving the world into apocalypse,
Leaving nothing behind except eternal frost.
Elated, the fiendish hyenas, Hati and Sköll, devoured the light,
The horse-drawn chariots of heat and cold.
A spirit, ill-tempered and cross, howled in defiance to the cold
As the once-silent Earth descended
Into malicious crowing, of roosters at daybreak, feverish, but light.
By the call of bad omen, the denizens of Earth,
The honored, and forsaken, arose to stinging frost
And prayed for salvation in the face of apocalypse.
Not even the Earth retained its resolve, for apocalypse
Was near; it trembled, shivering in the cold.
Nothing had escaped the boreal frost.
Old trickster of winter, slayer of Phol, free from his fetters, descended,
Slowly, but menacingly, furiously to Earth
Where he unleashed his son, lupine corruptor of the light.
It drifted down to frozen ground, like a weighted feather, forcefully, but light,
His eyes breathed fire, the arctic glare of apocalypse.
Aye, what a sight to behold: a wave as large as the Earth
Engulfed the mountaintops and set loose the Serpent of waters cold.
In horror, breathless men descended
Into silenced weeping, their voices squelched by a sea of frost.
Weakened by Serpent's toxic dread, the sky began to rain infernal frost
And woke the giants of abyssal light –
Molten golems stirred, wakeful, and descended
From the skies to bring vengeful apocalypse
To the jailors, Old Gods, who banished them to the cold,
Dark sulfuric pits of Middle Earth.
The twilight marked the end of Earth –
Symphonious crowing, of Egdir's harp and dancing frost,
Signed sickening ceremony in honor of the cold.
In a world devoid of light,
Breathing, seething, writhing apocalypse
Sung songs of death as nightfall descended.
Oh, was there ever a truer Earth, blinded by the light?
The frost-tempered mallet clashed with apocalypse
But fell nevertheless to death's cold maw. The rapier descended.
In the midst of the Old Gods' quarrel, a rapier descended
From the heavens and impaled the Earth,
The impact driving the world into apocalypse,
Leaving nothing behind except eternal frost.
Elated, the fiendish hyenas, Hati and Sköll, devoured the light,
The horse-drawn chariots of heat and cold.
A spirit, ill-tempered and cross, howled in defiance to the cold
As the once-silent Earth descended
Into malicious crowing, of roosters at daybreak, feverish, but light.
By the call of bad omen, the denizens of Earth,
The honored, and forsaken, arose to stinging frost
And prayed for salvation in the face of apocalypse.
Not even the Earth retained its resolve, for apocalypse
Was near; it trembled, shivering in the cold.
Nothing had escaped the boreal frost.
Old trickster of winter, slayer of Phol, free from his fetters, descended,
Slowly, but menacingly, furiously to Earth
Where he unleashed his son, lupine corruptor of the light.
It drifted down to frozen ground, like a weighted feather, forcefully, but light,
His eyes breathed fire, the arctic glare of apocalypse.
Aye, what a sight to behold: a wave as large as the Earth
Engulfed the mountaintops and set loose the Serpent of waters cold.
In horror, breathless men descended
Into silenced weeping, their voices squelched by a sea of frost.
Weakened by Serpent's toxic dread, the sky began to rain infernal frost
And woke the giants of abyssal light –
Molten golems stirred, wakeful, and descended
From the skies to bring vengeful apocalypse
To the jailors, Old Gods, who banished them to the cold,
Dark sulfuric pits of Middle Earth.
The twilight marked the end of Earth –
Symphonious crowing, of Egdir's harp and dancing frost,
Signed sickening ceremony in honor of the cold.
In a world devoid of light,
Breathing, seething, writhing apocalypse
Sung songs of death as nightfall descended.
Oh, was there ever a truer Earth, blinded by the light?
The frost-tempered mallet clashed with apocalypse
But fell nevertheless to death's cold maw. The rapier descended.
Tanka: form 5-lines, syllable count 5-7-5-7-7.
Spoiler:
Kusanagi
Eight gates for eight heads:
A sorrowful maiden cries
for deliverance.
Fate entwined in broken sword…
will there be a tomorrow?
Eight gates for eight heads:
A sorrowful maiden cries
for deliverance.
Fate entwined in broken sword…
will there be a tomorrow?
Villanelle (x2): form 3-3-3-3-3-4, rhyme is A-B-A-A-B-A-A-B-A-A, etc. Final stanza has rhyme scheme of A-B-A-A. The last lines of stanzas 2 and 4 are the same as the first line of stanza 1. The last lines of stanzas 3 and 5 are the same as the last line of stanza 1. Note: The first one I took poetic license on and broke the rules a bit. The title is pronounced "KNEE-MO-SIGH-KNEE."
Spoiler:
Mnemosyne
Here, I stand in spirit's land; I toast to this hellish place –
whilst basking in brackish flowing memory -
to the plague that took me, memories of thy gentle face,
of dead passions forgotten, love's wretched dark embrace,
of indulgence, of Kalypso, foul lechery;
of thy loving touch and gentle face,
of glistening gold, of jewels and Troy, man's race
for fortunes foretold, of avarice, vicious bribery;
of thy tender voice and gentle face,
of desire to gain, of the falling of Thrace,
foul intent upon one's neighbor, thievery;
of thy loving touch and gentle face,
of bitterness, in vengeance, of spiteful disgrace,
of wrath, of baleful contempt, ill treachery;
of thy tender voice and gentle face,
of the heavy haze of death and dying grace,
of Phaeacian ships, of broken pride and dark misery.
Yet, while I stand in this forsaken place,
all I can remember is thy loving touch and gentle face.
Here, I stand in spirit's land; I toast to this hellish place –
whilst basking in brackish flowing memory -
to the plague that took me, memories of thy gentle face,
of dead passions forgotten, love's wretched dark embrace,
of indulgence, of Kalypso, foul lechery;
of thy loving touch and gentle face,
of glistening gold, of jewels and Troy, man's race
for fortunes foretold, of avarice, vicious bribery;
of thy tender voice and gentle face,
of desire to gain, of the falling of Thrace,
foul intent upon one's neighbor, thievery;
of thy loving touch and gentle face,
of bitterness, in vengeance, of spiteful disgrace,
of wrath, of baleful contempt, ill treachery;
of thy tender voice and gentle face,
of the heavy haze of death and dying grace,
of Phaeacian ships, of broken pride and dark misery.
Yet, while I stand in this forsaken place,
all I can remember is thy loving touch and gentle face.
Spoiler:
Kybalion
Never believing in the ears of the blind,
and always believing in lies,
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Wandering the world in search of mankind,
they see to observe and speak to surmise,
never believing in the ears of the blind.
They toil away, to search but never to find
the impossible elixir, the Devil's disguise;
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Though opposites, they see them combined,
looking down when searching for skies,
never believing in the ears of the blind.
Ebb and flow, two sisters entwined,
moving, but returning, falling to rise,
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Through vibrations of the mental bind
they deem themselves as wise.
Never believing in the ears of the blind,
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Never believing in the ears of the blind,
and always believing in lies,
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Wandering the world in search of mankind,
they see to observe and speak to surmise,
never believing in the ears of the blind.
They toil away, to search but never to find
the impossible elixir, the Devil's disguise;
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Though opposites, they see them combined,
looking down when searching for skies,
never believing in the ears of the blind.
Ebb and flow, two sisters entwined,
moving, but returning, falling to rise,
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Through vibrations of the mental bind
they deem themselves as wise.
Never believing in the ears of the blind,
they speak only in search of presence of mind.
Sonnet: Form 14-lines, iambic pentameter (5 iambs in each line, iamb: two syllable form with one stress, second syllable receives stress) - 10 syllables per line. Rhymed either ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG (Petrarchan) or ABBA-ABBA-CDE-CDE (Elizabethan).
Spoiler:
Malleus Maleficarum
A single figure stands above, damning
the famished buzzards as they seethe and thresh.
She shines alone in a sea of scorning,
her arms entangled in a woven mesh.
She screams, unanswered. They watch her demise.
Their eyes were caught in fire's seething glare,
her raging soul, burning skin, burning eyes.
All of town was engulfed in burning hair.
A blazing woman moans above, calling
the angry vultures as they crow in mirth,
their voices in foul unison; galling,
As severed head met with sweet, sweet cold earth.
All became silent as the fire burned.
All was forgotten as, to town, they turned.
A single figure stands above, damning
the famished buzzards as they seethe and thresh.
She shines alone in a sea of scorning,
her arms entangled in a woven mesh.
She screams, unanswered. They watch her demise.
Their eyes were caught in fire's seething glare,
her raging soul, burning skin, burning eyes.
All of town was engulfed in burning hair.
A blazing woman moans above, calling
the angry vultures as they crow in mirth,
their voices in foul unison; galling,
As severed head met with sweet, sweet cold earth.
All became silent as the fire burned.
All was forgotten as, to town, they turned.
I may edit and add a pantoum if I feel like writing one.
Ask for interpretations and references if you do not understand. I'll PM you.
Last edited: