I recently wrote my first sestina. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't very good either. I wish I had known about the tritina when I began grappling with the sestina from. It might have made it a bit easier to handle/understand.
In writing about Helen Frost, today's Poetry Maker, I found a number of worksheets on poetic form on her web site. She suggests starting with the tritina since the sestina is a more difficult form. What a great idea! Here are the nuts and bolts of the form.
10-line poem made of three, 3-line stanzas and a 1-line envoi
There is no rhyme scheme but rather an end word scheme. It is:
A
B
C
C
A
B
B
C
A
A, B, and C (all in the last line/envoi)
So, your challenge for the week is to write a tritina. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week. Have fun!
Oy. I should really be working on finishing my sestina, but it's just NOT COMING together... if I have time I'll try this.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this is what you mean:
ReplyDeleteThe Moon and Me: A Tritina
Looking last night at the moon,
I thought how it resembled a stone
Skipped by a child into the sky.
But who would have thrown into the sky
Something so precious as that moon,
Such an enormous gem stone?
I would have rather hung that stone
Around my neck, bedecked like the sky
With ear-stars as well as that hanging moon,
And strolled into sky town, the boys whistling at the moonstone and me.
c Jane Yolen 2009
A couple of attempts here.
ReplyDeleteBoy, Harriet, do I love the last line of the second poem. It really works.
ReplyDeleteJane
A Noir-ish Tritina
ReplyDeleteIf Mr. Potato-Head
met Ms. Lonelyhearts, what
would he ask?
What does a head ask
a heart, even when that head
is empty? Could be "What's
up, Beautiful? What's
the rush?" Hearts get asked
that question by heads.
When P-Head asks, "What's up, Little Lady?" Ms. L-heart says, "Who's asking?"
Well, I think that last line wrapped because of the space restrictions here...but it should all be on one line.
ReplyDeleteJane, you have totally made my day for saying that. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this challenge again Tricia, though have ended up rushing it. Also enjoyed reading the others examples. I'm here as usual - http://theweekthatwas.wordpress.com/. Thanks Jacqueline.
ReplyDelete