Eiregirl
Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 10230
Location: Chasing a pink bunny
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Watch the sea (#42 Alliterisen)
What is Alliterisen…
There are two forms of Alliterisen. The complex form and the rhyming form. Both forms are based on a seven line stanza. The name of the form ‘Alliterisen’ comes from the alliteration contained within the poem.
The Complex Alliterisen is the one we will discuss for this entry. (the rhyming form will be discussed later)
As stated above it has a seven line base stanza (by that I mean the minimum is one seven line stanza but can have an infinite number of stanza’s).
Structure…
The structure of this poem is relatively simple even though the name of it is ‘Complex’.
There are seven lines per stanza (a septet).
Two alliterations per line.
There is a set (or somewhat set) syllable pattern that must be followed.
As the name implies this poem is about alliteration so we need to know what alliteration is. We will discuss that in the Terms section below.
The syllable pattern is one of the things I like about this form.
In the first line you have x number of syllables. This is your base line for the stanza (your starting point for every line of the stanza)
In the second line you have the same number of syllable as your base line plus two more.
In the third line you have the same number of syllables as your base line minus one syllable.
In the fourth line you have the same number of syllables as your base line plus one syllable.
In the fifth line you have the same number of syllables as your base line minus two syllables.
In the sixth line you have the same number of syllables as your base line.
In the seventh line you have the same number of syllables as your base line.
For example lets say your base line contains nine syllables the syllable count would be as follows
xxxxxxxxx nine syllables
xxxxxxxxxxx eleven syllables
xxxxxxxx eight syllables
xxxxxxxxxx ten syllables
xxxxxxx seven syllables
xxxxxxxxx nine syllables
xxxxxxxxx nine syllables
Just remember that the first line is your base line then for each line after do this…
X base line
X plus 2
X minus 1
X plus 1
X minus 2
X
X
By doing the mathematics of the syllable structure you will have to have a minimum of 3 syllables for the base line.
Terms…
Septet – a seven line stanza
Alliteration – Also called head rhyme is the repetition of the initial sounds of stressed syllables in neighboring words or at short intervals within a line or passage, usually at word beginnings such as with the words ninth and night or blood and blue or alabaster and always.
History…
I happened across this form of poetry while I was informing a website that a form of poetry they had listed as an eleventh century French form was actually a twentieth century American form. As I looked over the Alliterisen form I found that I liked it and after playing around with it decided it would be a nice one to put here.
Alliterisen is a form of poetry that was created by Udit Bhatia who is a seventeen year old man from Delhi India. Other than this there is no other history that I can find. So far he has not responded to my email asking how he came to create this form and the process he went through in doing so. But I am optimistic that I will eventually get a response and when I do I will update this entry with that information.
Now my poem…
Watch the sea
See the wonders of the water rushing rapidly by
Hear the crashing on the beach of the crushing surf on golden sand
In the bright sky birds glide on glistening wings of gold
Feel the wonderful breeze bring in the clean clear air of the sea
Sit, sip your tea watching the water lap the shore
The fire of the first rays of dawn dare the colours to rise
Clouds close on the horizon, horrid winds blow the ocean
I wrote the above poem to show some different ways alliteration can be used.
At intervals like “Hear the crashing on the beach of the crushing surf on golden sand”
In neighboring words like “Clouds close on the horizon, horrid winds blow the ocean”
Some may think that the third line does not follow the two alliterations per line because it appears that the second alliteration alliterates three times…well it does not because glide and glisten do not alliterate with gold. Remember when you are alliterating words you are matching sound not letters.
I hope you enjoyed the poem and like the form because it is a real fun form to work with. _________________ All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are
Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine
These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.
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