Strength Within

by kiwisteveh

Now everything you thought you knew has changed,
for sun and moon and stars have broken free;
the certainties you lived by rearranged,

your clifftop fortress swept by swirling sea.
Oh, how can you survive when all is torn
as withered leaves in autumn from the tree?

Defenceless as the orphan lamb, new-born,
you totter helpless through the wintry field,
assailed by biting wind and stabbing thorn

and blind to dangers in the dark concealed.
From deep inside there stirs the will to fight,
and fight again each day and never yield;

to battle through the long and lonely night
against those demons that would bind you fast
and blind you to the morning's rousing light.

But shadows fade; the sun will rise at last
and dress the world in hope, as his bright ray
brings respite from the terrors of the past.

The shackles of despair now fall away;
once more the coals of self-belief are fanned
to steady flames that warm the brand new day.

Such strength within which few can understand
will build foundations strong from shifting sand.

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Rhyming Poem contest entry

'respite' in stanza 6 should have the stress on the first syllable. There are alternative pronunciations for this word. UK speakers are more likely to pronounce the second syllable as 'spite' whereas US speakers probably say 'spit'. I may go against the grain in choosing US pronunciation here to achieve correct meter.

Terza rima is a rhyming verse stanza form that consists of an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme. It was first used by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

The literal translation of terza rima from Italian is "third rhyme". Terza rima is a three-line stanza using chain rhyme in the pattern ABA BCB CDC DED. There is no limit to the number of lines, but poems or sections of poems written in terza rima end with either a single line or couplet repeating the rhyme of the middle line of the final tercet. The two possible endings for the example above are DED E, or DED EE. There is no set rhythm for terza rima, but in English, iambic pentameter is generally preferred.

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Terza Rima

Strength Within

by kiwisteveh

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