14 Oct 2011

Awdl Gywydd

An Artist's Dream

The darkest hours of the night,
when thoughts of fright come calling,
are best forgotten. In sleep,
new dreams may keep enthralling.

Hold fast to their fantasies
and rest at ease while knowing
that these imaginings birth
ideas with seeds worth sowing.

Nothing that is made by man
himself, can prove it has been
created without such seeds
as feed inspiration's dream.

So give thanks when each day dawns,
as it may spawn new ideas  
for a masterpiece to grace
some small space for untold years.

I've been intrigued by Grace's post on Imaginary Garden where she explains about this Welsh poetic form. Each stanza is made up of seven-syllable quatrains and an interlaced rhyme scheme, with the second and fourth lines making a perfect rhyme.
First we see each line is seven syllables. Next, note that there is a rhyme at the midpoint of the second and fourth lines, as well as the perfect rhyme at the end. This interlaced rhyme can be a half-rhyme, consonance, or assonance, and can even be moved around, placing it in the third, fourth, or fifth syllable of each of those lines.
******A
**a***B
******C
**c***B
It is haunting me, so to help get it out of my system for a while, here's my attempt, above.

11 comments:

  1. I love the tone of it!! Haunting!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  2. Been a while I came here...
    N m totally refreshed...You wite like a charmer, Penny!:)

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  3. Nice! Would be good to create a masterpiece;-)

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  4. Now, Jinksy! You know on Strictly Come Dancing when Len takes off points for too many lifts? Well,there's a rhyme missing in the third stanza.(it may have fallen down behind the computer) It'll have to be a A-. The tenet of the poem flows beautifully though

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  5. Amazing!

    I can easily resist this one ;-) Far too difficult for me. But not for you!

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  6. Peter - you're right - I'm still editing now, though...♥

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  7. Jinksy, you done good, girl. This wasn't easy, but it sure was interesting. I have a lot more respect for the Welsh now. I always thought of them as singers, not poets, and as they didn't hand me down the lilting voice, it never occurred to me they'd hand down the gift of lilting lines for me to abuse and forget. I'm sure learning a lot by following Real Toads. They make me work.

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  8. Well, I can see why the form has been haunting you...and I am hooked. I have not attempted to write anything within the confines of a form for the longest time. I am going to copy your post and paste it into a word doc to keep on my desktop as a reminder to try this!

    Your poem absolutely sings to my heart.

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  9. A magnificent poem to go with the magnificent painting, Jinksy.

    Now I have to tell you that this is your fault: you left a comment on last week's Sunday Tree to the effect that there were many possible poems in that one tree ... which made me think, perhaps I should plant an experiemental wood, and invite people to respond to the trees as they see them?

    So, I have posted a linky thing to yesterday's Sunday Tree, and would like to invite you to write something in response to any of the trees ...

    Hope to read you soon.

    Best wishes, Isabel

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  10. Hello, thanks so much for this post. I must try this form. I went to some old Welsh gnomic poetry for models for a couple of poems in my book Black Shawl, but this is so much more helpful and fascinating.

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