Alliterative verse
Poetry Contest
Alliterative verse is probably the most ancient poetic form in the English language and certainly predates any form of tail end rhyme. Beowulf is probably the oldest surviving poem set down in the Anglo Saxon tongue and there are a few rules that you must abide by to succeed in this contest. It is not just a question of beginning words with the same sound; it is the stressed syllable that counts.
An alliterative line of verse consists of two halves with two stressed syllables in each half. The basic rule is that there must be at least one piece of alliteration between the first half and the second half. There may be more but not less. You can have as much alliteration as you like but only the stressed syllables count.
Here are some example of alliterative lines with the stressed syllables shown in upper case:
She SLIPS on her SELkieskin: "SWIM Selkie SWIM."
The above line is an example of two stressed syllables in the first half alliterating with two in the second half. This line has a waltz time rhythm (123, 223, 323, 4) but any rhythm is acceptable provided that there are a total of four stressed syllables in each line. In the above line there is a plethora of alliteration but only the syllables in uppercase count because they are stressed. Here is a short but qualifying line from "Beowulf":
GRENdel GONgan GODDes ire BAR
This line has two stressed syllables in the first half alliterating with one in the second.
LOVer though searches theLENGTH of the LITToral
And this goes one to two and is pefectly acceptable.
Even one to one is acceptable but you don't want too many lines like that.
When this form of poetry originated most people couldn't read so it was all performance stuff in those days and it is the sound rather than the letter that is the qualifying aspect:
YOU are yet YELPing that USEless exPRESSion
The above line qualifies because USE has the Y sound that alliterates with YOU and YELP in the first half.
Remember it is not the opening sound of a word but the stressed syllable that counts so:
LEAVES her lost LOVE on land, KEENing, forLORN
This is a two to one even though no word in the second half actually begins with an L sound.
Beware of prefixes some are stressed and some are not. The normal, spoken stress is what should count: reMEMber alliterates with MEMory not RAther and there are some really awkward ones like RECALL that depend on the meaning for their normal spoken stress: do you reCALL? And total REcall!
As in the recent blank verse competition set by Mountainwriter I will be offering help by way of private messaging to all entrants because this is not the most common form of poetry but it is great fun to work at, so here's to an interesting three months ahead. The closing date is my birthday so give me a few presents folks and lets have some fun meanwhile!
There are several sites offering help on writing alliterative poetry and some of them are misleading. The traditional style I have enlarged on here is the only acceptable style for this competition.
If this competition prompts you to read some anglo saxon poetry such as "Beowulf" that's great but if you read it in translation you may find that some of the alliteration is lost so keep the original to hand as a reference.
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 40.00 member dollars. There are 14 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 180.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
Full Contest Listing
An alliterative line of verse consists of two halves with two stressed syllables in each half. The basic rule is that there must be at least one piece of alliteration between the first half and the second half. There may be more but not less. You can have as much alliteration as you like but only the stressed syllables count.
Here are some example of alliterative lines with the stressed syllables shown in upper case:
She SLIPS on her SELkieskin: "SWIM Selkie SWIM."
The above line is an example of two stressed syllables in the first half alliterating with two in the second half. This line has a waltz time rhythm (123, 223, 323, 4) but any rhythm is acceptable provided that there are a total of four stressed syllables in each line. In the above line there is a plethora of alliteration but only the syllables in uppercase count because they are stressed. Here is a short but qualifying line from "Beowulf":
GRENdel GONgan GODDes ire BAR
This line has two stressed syllables in the first half alliterating with one in the second.
LOVer though searches theLENGTH of the LITToral
And this goes one to two and is pefectly acceptable.
Even one to one is acceptable but you don't want too many lines like that.
When this form of poetry originated most people couldn't read so it was all performance stuff in those days and it is the sound rather than the letter that is the qualifying aspect:
YOU are yet YELPing that USEless exPRESSion
The above line qualifies because USE has the Y sound that alliterates with YOU and YELP in the first half.
Remember it is not the opening sound of a word but the stressed syllable that counts so:
LEAVES her lost LOVE on land, KEENing, forLORN
This is a two to one even though no word in the second half actually begins with an L sound.
Beware of prefixes some are stressed and some are not. The normal, spoken stress is what should count: reMEMber alliterates with MEMory not RAther and there are some really awkward ones like RECALL that depend on the meaning for their normal spoken stress: do you reCALL? And total REcall!
As in the recent blank verse competition set by Mountainwriter I will be offering help by way of private messaging to all entrants because this is not the most common form of poetry but it is great fun to work at, so here's to an interesting three months ahead. The closing date is my birthday so give me a few presents folks and lets have some fun meanwhile!
There are several sites offering help on writing alliterative poetry and some of them are misleading. The traditional style I have enlarged on here is the only acceptable style for this competition.
If this competition prompts you to read some anglo saxon poetry such as "Beowulf" that's great but if you read it in translation you may find that some of the alliteration is lost so keep the original to hand as a reference.
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 40.00 member dollars. There are 14 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 180.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Wednesday, July 1, 2015.
