Eiregirl
Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 10230
Location: Chasing a pink bunny
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Sing of the seasons (#31 Rionnaird Tri-Nard - Irish)
The very subject of poetry is vast and this form of communication has existed since long before the written word…but that is for another post in the future…
Poets of the past and even of today were and are in all actuality the historians and journalist of their time. Gaelic bards told the stories of their lives, the events of the day or the happenings within their community or country. They would tell the stories of the past as well as the myths and legends that had been handed down through time unknown. A great deal of bardic poetry is not what many modern critics of poetry would consider poetry in the…for lack of better words…higher sense of poetry but in my opinion they have no idea what they are talking about because I feel that Gaelic poetry has some of the most artistic forms of poetry you will ever find. Gaelic poets of the past (from around the mid 1500’s to the 17 or 1800’s) were not just poets. They were…well trained PhD’s of literature who belonged to a caste of society that was held in high regard within society. These bards held a vast knowledge of history and traditions especially those of their own country. These bards were often public officials, clan or community historians. They were the keepers of the past and the journalists of the day. They were not just musicians and poets they were also historians who were committed to the preservation of their culture. Bards were, in ancient and medieval times, responsible for the telling and/or singing of the history and the laws of the people. They would tell the praises of lords and kings as well as put it in their face with satirical stories or songs when they messed up. As a consequence of this honesty on the part of the bards they were held in high regard and were well respected as they traveled around the country plying their trade.
Suggested reading
Tales of the Celtic Bards by Claire Hamilton
Now onward to the topic of this post.
To start with… I will tell you now…this can be a very confusing form of poetry and very challenging if you do not take the time to understand it.
Rionnaird Tri-Nard which is pronounced ru'n-ard tree-nard…
This form of Irish poetry is a quatrain stanza of hexasyllabic lines with disyllabic endings. I will explain what all that means in a moment. Lines two and four rhyme, and line three consonates with lines two and four. There are no cross rhymes in the first couplet (first two lines) but there are two cross rhymes in the second couplet. There is alliteration in each line, and the last syllable of line one alliterates with the first accented word of line two.
Terms...
A hexasyllabic line is…six syllables long…that’s it. That is all hexasyllabic means.
Accent is the prominence or emphasis given to a syllable or word. In the word poetry, the accent (or stress) falls on the first syllable of the word poetry.
Disyllabic is simply two syllables…in this case it means the last word of the line will be a two syllable word.
Consonance is a stylistic device. It is the repetition of consonant sounds in a short sequence of words, for example, the "T" sound in the words bait and cat. It is most often used within a line.
Alliteration differs from consonance in that alliteration requires the repeated consonant sound to be at the beginning of the words. For example the “S” sound in the words sail the storm.
Structure…
This form can be written with one or more stanza’s. Each stanza (quatrain) contains four six syllable lines with the last word of each line being a two syllable word.
Line one contains alliteration and also the last word of line one alliterates with the first accented word of line two.
Line two contains alliteration and rhymes with line four
Line three contains alliteration it also consonates with lines two and four and contains two cross rhymes with line four (a cross rhyme for example would be the first word of line three rhyming with the third word of line four or the second word of line three rhyming with the fourth word of line four).
Line four contains alliteration as well as the cross rhymes from line three and the rhyme with line two.
The diagram below is representative of the first stanza of the poem below
(it is only one of many combinations of the various components of this form)
Each position in the diagram represents a syllable.
( ) anything in parenthesis indicates a single two syllable word
a = alliteration (can be anywhere within the line)
b = rhyme 1
c = consonate (most often used with side by side words within a line but here in the Rionnaird Tri-Nard it is used from line to line…specifically lines two three and four)
d = rhyme 2
e = rhyme 3
x = a syllable that has none of the other components of this form
a x a x (xa)
a a c x (ab)
c ad x ae (x)
x ae ad c (b)
I will not mislead you…this is a very difficult form of poetry to write.
Some of my cross rhymes in the second stanza are not perfect but they work.
In the poem I wrote below there is one intentional error...can you find it?
There may be more unintentional...giggle
Now my poem…
Sing of the seasons
Dance in depths of darkness
Night falls in the forest
When sung a song praising
The song sung in chorus
Spring slips into summer
Moon Goddess sings along
Autumn leaves are falling
She weaves our way along
Deep within dark forests
Earthly songs echoing
From forests to seashore
Do come, sprites are dancing
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