Traditional Poetry - #2 -
In this round, we deviate from iambic meter to that of trochaic meter. The contest requires a poem written in Trochaic Tetrameter on any topic - minimum eight lines - maximum 16.
A Trochee is the direct opposite of an iamb. It is two syllables long, but the stress is on the FIRST syllable vs. the second. Tetrameter means that there must be 4 trochees (8 syllables) in each line - with the exception of using a catalexis lines to change the flow or sing-song effect that sometimes comes with Trochaic meter.
A Catalexis line is where the final syllable of a line of verse is dropped and the line, which then ends on the 7th syllable.
Example of Trochaic Meter using a catalexis line:
TWINKle, TWINKle, LITTle STAR. (7 syllables)
Example of Trochaic Verse using alternating catalexic lines (7 syllables with 8 syllables)
Jenny Kissed Me - by Leigh Hunt
Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.
It is permissible to do what Leigh Hunt did, which is to write an eight line poem, similar to a Rondeau, in that the first 4 syllables of line one are repeated as the final line. Rondeau rhyme scheme is NOT required.
Rhyme is optional as long as the Trochaic tetrameter is upheld. Another sample of Trochaic meter is the Song of Hiawatha - by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. In his classic poem, every line is Trochaic Tetrameter. It does not have end rhymes:
By the shore of Gitchie Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and waited.
All the air was full of freshness,
All the earth was bright and joyous,
And before him through the sunshine,
Westward toward the neighboring forest
Passed in golden swarms the Ahmo,
Passed the bees, the honey-makers,
Burning, singing in the sunshine.
Bright above him shown the heavens,
Level spread the lake before him;
From its bosom leaped the sturgeon,
Aparkling, flashing in the sunshine;
On its margin the great forest
Stood reflected in the water,
Every tree-top had its shadow,
Motionless beneath the water.
From the brow of Hiawatha
Gone was every trace of sorrow,
As the fog from off the water,
And the mist from off the meadow.
With a smile of joy and triumph,
With a look of exultation,
As of one who in a vision
Sees what is to be, but is not,
Stood and waited Hiawatha.
The contest winner will win half of the prize pool which is based on the number of entries. The second and third place winners will each share the remaining prize pool. The prize pool is currently 55.00 member dollars. There are 5 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 80.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Tuesday, October 14, 2014.