Monday, March 09, 2015

Monday Poetry Stretch - Ottava Rima

I keep going back to form when I need some structure for my writing. It actually helps me when I have constraints to work within. Ottava rima is an Italian form that consists of an eight line stanza with the rhyme scheme abababcc. In English, the lines are usually written in iambic pentameter. Ottava rima is generally associated with epic poems (like Don Juan), but can be used for shorter poems.

An example of ottava rima can be found in the poem Sailing to Byzantium. Here are the first two stanzas of the poem.

Sailing to Byzantium
by William Butler Yeats

I
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect. 

II
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

Read the poem in its entirety.


I hope you'll join me this week in writing in the form of ottava rima. Please share a link to your poem or the poem itself in the comments.

4 comments:

  1. Morning

    Even in winter sun brings a new day,
    although it hides behind gray sky.
    And day brings hope, for come what may,
    beginning over means that I can try
    to shape my half a century of clay
    into something good. I know that I
    can be someone I wasn’t. I can be
    somebody free from last night’s history.

    —Kate Coombs, 2015
    all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  2. The ever-faithful Kate! My favorite bit is "shape my half a century of clay"--and on the eve of my half-century+1 I can access that heavy yet moldable feeling!

    Here's mine, using the word from my own Forward...MarCH CHallenge( http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2015/03/forwardlaunch.html )

    Birthday Ottava Rima

    The day approaches like a kiss,
    a smooch from the universe.
    "Welcome, honeybunch! Follow your bliss!
    Look what’s in your purse:
    shiny swatch of that and this
    Book of Blessing, chapter and verse,
    penny and pebble and pocketwatch
    for candy, hypnosis and hopscotch!“

    The day begins each year like a kiss,
    a smooch from the universe.
    “Forward, honeybunch! Follow your bliss!
    There's nothing to do but immerse
    yourself in this life. Nothing's amiss--
    or at least it could always be worse."
    Bewitched by blessing, I follow a hunch:
    I invite the whole world over for lunch.

    --Heidi Mordhorst 2015
    all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Such a cheery approach, Heidi! (Mine came at the end of a long day of "open mouth, insert foot.") I am very fond of the list with its "penny and pebble and pocket watch" and of the great rhyme with "hopscotch." Plus "Bewitched by blessing." And I would love to come to that lunch!

      Delete
  3. Thanks, Kate--do come and visit my MarCH CHallenge if you have time. Here's a revision of that list that I hope is better:

    Birthday Ottava Rima

    The day approaches like a kiss,
    a smooch from the universe.
    "Welcome, honeybunch! Follow your bliss!
    Look what’s in your purse:
    shiny swatch of that and this
    Book of Blessing, chapter and verse,
    pebble and penny and pocketwatch
    for hours of wishes and hopscotch.“

    The day begins each year like a kiss,
    a smooch from the universe.
    “Forward, honeybunch! Follow your bliss!
    There's nothing to do but immerse
    yourself in this life. Nothing's amiss--
    or at least it could always be worse."
    Bewitched by blessing, I follow a hunch:
    I invite the whole world over for lunch.

    HM 2015
    all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete