A sapphic stanza is composed of 4 lines:
a) 3 hendecasyllabic lines - a line with 11 syllables
b) with a fourth line that consists of 5 syllables
There is also meter within each line too.
Line 1: trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
Line 2: trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
Line 3: trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
Line 4: dactyl, trochee
In honour of day number eleven and the wonderful word 'hendecasyllable', here's a piece I've worked on, using this form.
Follow!
restful sleep's impossible; bed, a playground -
faerie dusted, glistening like an ocean
swelling with ripples.
Shadows' edges waver and mesmerise us;
objects lose their usual silhouettes and
phantom shapes arise in a grotesque fashion,
beckoning shyly.
"Come and follow! Into the realms of magic
let us go together and dance till daylight
dawns anew and wakes all the world from slumber.
Come now and follow!"
My silver-tinted poem is linked to Poets United, who chose colour as a prompt on Wednesday, and to IGWRT's one, asking for a sense of place, and dialogue.