Poetry Exercise No. 18: Haiku

A rather late revert to my attempt to complete the poetry exercises in "The Ode Less Travelled" by Stephen Fry.  Inspired by my visit to Japan.

According to what I learnt reading "Miss Happiness and Miss Flower" as a child, haikus have 17 syllables

On Mount Yoshino

altogether, and are arranged in three lines, of 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively.  However, according to Stephen Fry, it appears that this strict adherence to the Japanese syllabic form is not quite right.  Obviously Japanese words have fewer syllables than English words.  They say more with these 17 syllables then English speakers.  Rather the haiku is supposed to be the distillation of a moment of inspiration or imagination, the "haiku moment".  Stephen Fry also instructs that there must be a "seasonal word", or "kigo" in each haiku, to tell the reader what season this haiku is meant for, and should preferrably refer to the natural world.

The poetry exercise requires us to write four haiku, one for each season of the year.  But I don't really want to as my photos are all of spring and cherry blossoms.  So, I will just write three haiku, to celebrate the beautiful sakura flower.

Grounds of the Imperial Palace, Kyoto

Dreaming of the spring
Cherry trees begin to bloom
Buds await their turn

Sitting by the tree 

Pale pink petals float and sway

Blossoms on the wind

Silver on the ground

Above, fresh green leaves unfurl

Life begins anew

Intrepid Hunters

The cats found a cockroach in the kitchen yesterday. I entered the room, saw Winky, Dinky and Orlando sitting comfortably on the floor, and next spotted the cockroach in the corner. It was utterly still so I thought it was dead, and judging by their lack of interest, it seemed that the cats thought so too.


I walked a little nearer, and then the cockroach started moving and (before a whisker could shake) squirmed beneath a cabinet door into one of the cabinets. I opened the door and tried to spot the cockroach - ended up half-emptying the cabinet before catching a glimpse of the cockroach scuttling into a far corner. Put Winky in - but something spooked him and he ran away. Put Orlando in next and (after some sniffing in the wrong spots) he emerged with the cockroach in his mouth! He dropped the cockroach on the floor, the cats surrounded it and after some initial tapping of the cockroach, they lay down around it again and did nothing further! In the end, we had to administer the killing blow and disposed of the cockroach. This is what happened when house cats get soft and lose that instinct to pursue the hunt right to the death.


Anyway, the incident inspired this poem:

Three intrepid hunters
Go stalking through the house
Searching high and low for
A cockroach or a mouse

A cockroach! They spy one!
Who will get there faster?
One lad streaks ahead and
Traps it in a corner.

One hard tap is needed to
Dispatch this wriggling prey
But once he lifts his paw
The cockroach gets away!

Foiled again! The hunters
Look for another trail
Excitement mounts - they spot
Long whiskers and a tail!

One pounce - the mouse is caught!
No need to jump for joy
Just take a closer look -
It's only a soft toy!

Poetry Exercise No. 16 : Triolet

Back to the poetry writing, after a very long rest period.

A cousin of the Rondeau, i.e. characterised by repeating lines/rhymes. Eight lines in total, with the first and second lines repeated in the seventh and eighth lines, and the first line echoed in the fourth line. Rhyme scheme - ABaAbbAB. So here is my triolet, on Casey:

I love my little Casey cat
I wish she loved me just a bit
Her pretty head I gently pat
I love my little Casey cat
But in return she throws a fit
At my touch she will snarl and spit
I love my little Casey cat
I wish she loved me just a bit

Poetry Exercise No. 13: Heroic Verse

Heroic verse is pretty straightforward. Rhyming couplets aabbccdd in good old iambic pentameter. I'd skipped this particular exercise earlier as I wasn't particularly inspired. We were supposed to write about a chap trying to explain away possession of cannabis but it didn't interest me. But now the alternative is to write a sestina, which is a pretty formidable prospect. And so, back to the heroic verse. The inspiration, however, comes from the story of St Benezet, the guy who built a bridge in a little town called Avignon...

Pleased to meet you. They call me Benezet.
Just a shepherd, no one special you’d say.
I was watching my sheep by Avignon
(the town to be made famous through a song)
When I heard God’s voice speak to me, “Go down”,
He said, “And tell the people of that town
Build a bridge across that river, so a
Traveller can safely cross that river
To rest his head within the town”, and then
He added, “I’m right behind you, dear Ben.”
So I picked up my crook, and found someone
To care for my sheep till my task was done.
Then down I walked to Avignon to see
How I could complete my task. Just to be
In this great town was indeed a delight
A change from looking after sheep all night
But I knew I could not forget my task
So I went down to the bishop to ask
If he could build a bridge 'cross the river
For God wanted it done, that much was clear
But he and the townspeople laughed at me
(They all thought that I was being funny)
But I was determined, and persisted
"Build God that bridge!" I firmly insisted.
They didn't believe me (which was quite rude)
And so they asked me, "Young man, if you could
Carry that little stone just a short way
We'll build that bridge for you, starting today!"
So I looked at the stone and had a shock
Their little stone was a mighty great rock!
So I called on God, and asked for his aid
"You said you'd help me out, dear Lord" I prayed
Then I gave that big rock a shove and heave
Those townpeople didn't know what to believe
For God heard my prayer and lent me a hand
With his help I carried that rock to the
River and threw it in. I said, "Look here"
To the townspeople, "Fulfil your promise."
They looked at each other and mumbled "Yes".
So a bridge now spans that river, and hey!
Guess what - they now call me, "St Benezet".

Poetry Exercise No. 14: Villanelle

Ok, I personally think this is a terrible attempt. But I have stopped writing for some time, so am pushing this out just to get started again. The assignment is a villanelle. I've actually explained the villanelle form in an earlier post so all that's left now is the exercise. Since the villanelle is a French form, I sought inspiration from my recent trip to France (for more, read here). Here goes:

The Chateau of Chenonceau

Through my galleries people come and go
They live, dream, laugh and cry, whilst all the while
Beneath my bridges does the river flow

Thomas Bohier first built the chateau
Katherine his wife furnished it with style
Through my galleries people come and go

Henry Second the castle did bestow
On lovely Diane just to see her smile
Beneath my bridges does the river flow

Henry died and Catherine his widow
Seized Chenonceau for her very own pile
Through my galleries people come and go

Catherine built a hall for the chateau
Festivals were held, dances in the aisle
Beneath this hall does the river flow

Now, tourists walk the halls of Chenonceau
For the camera their faces do smile
Through my galleries people come and go
Beneath my bridges watch the river flow

Photo shows the great hall at Chenonceau, built over the river. Note that there is a certain poetic licence taken in one verse.

P.S. For villanelles, the middle line must rhyme throughout, just as the first line of each verse must rhyme with the last. A rhyming dictionary is pretty useful here.

P.P.S I had to amend the poem. Forgot that villanelles are supposed to have only 6 stanzas of 3 lines each. Anyway, don't think the junked verses were much loss.

Poetry Exercise No. 12: The Ballad

We are now on to ballads. 4-beat and 3-beat lines alternating. It is a fairly loose form - with either 4 or 6 lines per verse, ABAB or ABCB rhyming pattern. Doesn't need to be strict tetra/trimeter, as long as the rhythm holds.

Apparently ballads have rather "low", folk origins. Fry describes it as " pub poetry... it can be macabre, brutal, sinister, preachy, ghostly, doom-laden, lurid, erotic, mock-solemn, facetious, pious or obscene....". I was reading my copy of "Everyman's Book of Evergreen Verse" to find some examples and certainly W.S. Gilbert's "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell" fits the bill. Its main feature is the refrain:

O, I am a cook and a captain bold
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight and a midshipmite
And the crew of the captain's gig.

And for those who do not know this poem, all that needs to be said is that it is a tale about cannibalism on the high seas. The whole poem can be found here (not copying it in here as this is already going to be a long post as it is). It is a fun, rollicking poem and has got a great rhythm and swing to it. Guess that is what a ballad is all about.


Ok, now for the confession. There is an exercise. We're meant to complete a ballad with the first two verses as composed by Fry:

Now gather round and let me tell
The tale of Danny Wise;
And how his sweet wife Annabelle
Did suck out both his eyes.

And if I tell the story true
And if I tell it clear
There's not a mortal one of you
Won't shriek in mortal fear.

What can I say? I must admit that this little attempt does not spark off anything in me. It is difficult enough as it is to think of a story as to why a wife would suck out her husband's eyes (beyond the obvious). I did think of an allusion to Neil Gaiman's Corinthian (a nightmare with an eye fetish) but discarded that as I felt Annabelle deserved something better. In the end I was inspired by the latest season of "Heroes" although I have tried to vary the talent in this case.

And so the poem continues:

Now Danny ever as a lad
Had eyes so sharp and bright,
That they could spot the tiniest speck
And pierce the darkest night.

One day Danny went to the fair
Some fake CDs to sell,
And who should he see standing there
But our sweet Annabelle.

Danny took one look at her and
Completely lost his heart;
And Annabelle she glanced at Dan
- And loved him from the start.

So they married, our happy pair
And built a happy home.
But that's not all, else there would be
An end to this bad poem.

For Danny's sight grew sharper still
Super vision then had he!
Eyes which could burn through wood and stone
And all that he could see.

For Danny couldn't control his gift
In fact it was a curse;
All that he saw he set aflame
And it was getting worse.

At last he asked sweet Annabelle
To save him from his pain;
To find a way for him to lose
The gift that was his bane.

Annabelle tried all that she could -
Toiling night and day
But everything that she tried failed
Until t'was one last way

So now I've come to the end of
The tale of Danny Wise;
And how his sweet wife Annabelle
Did suck out both his eyes.

I know. It stinks. But what to do. Remember - it's just an exercise!

Poetry Exercise No. 11: Ottava Rima

Ottava Rima: Iambic pentameter, 8 lines worth. Rhyme scheme: ABABABCC.

My Orlando poem:

One day an orphan came to our front door

Bedraggled; hungry; a sad, sorry cat.

Big eyes and ears; a small warm orange paw;

Just looking for a home, a meal, a pat.

So- now Orlando is alone no more,

His fur is thick; his tummy round and fat.

This mischief maker in our hearts has grown

We're happy in our house he has his home.

Maybe a little overly alliterated in the last two lines but it just came out like that.

The last assignment was the Spencerian Stanza, eight lines worth of iambic pentameter with a nineth line of iambic heptameter (or an alexandrine)! I have to say that I don't think iambic pentameter is quite my thing. I find the lines a little long to construct. Give me the tetrameter anytime. Anyway, I have decided to cheat a little by varying the above verse. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCBCC. So here goes:

One day an orphan came to our front door
Bedraggled; hungry; a sad, sorry cat.
Big eyes and ears; a small warm orange paw;
Just looking for a home, a meal, a pat.
But now Orlando's getting round and fat
With lots of company; he's not alone,

(In fact sometimes he's quite the little brat)
Oh mischief maker, in our hearts you've grown,
We are so glad that its with us that you have made your home.

Thank heavens! Now I can move on to the next exercise.

Poetry Exercise No. 11: Rhyme Royal

Rhyme Royal is a seven-line verse in iambic pentameter, with a rhyming scheme ABABBCC. Surprisingly, I found this rather difficult. Perhaps because after the last few exercises, I’m no longer used to the rhythm of iambic feet. I started off writing something about Orlando jumping around in the house, but it kept on coming out in anapaestic feet instead. In the end, I had to change tack. So after many false starts, here is my verse:

The garden plants grow greenly in the sun
The smell of coffee fills the morning air
No work to do or errands he must run
A cat sits on the cushion on the chair
He sits and thinks, “Ah yes! The day is fair!”
With nothing else to do but sit and chat,
Life is so easy when you are a cat!

After spending so much time on this, I've decided to leave Ottava Rima to another day.

Poetry Exercise No. 11: Open Forms

We have moved on from rhyme, to stanzaic forms. There are different types of forms – open forms, where the overall length is left to the poet, and closed forms which follow a set pattern and length.

The assignment does not hold much interest (at least to me). For each open form, we are supposed to write a poem which describes the form. I think I prefer writing about my dear little cats who are, after all, an endless source of interest and inspiration.

So here we go with the first open form :

Terza Rima :
Tercets are 3-line stanzas. Terza Rima can be any length but the rhyme scheme is ABA, BCB, CDC, and so on till the last stanza which is four lines long, in the format DEDE. My attempt, called "Feeding Time":

When evening comes, it's time to eat
We walk out with a jar of food
The cats rush back in, from the street.

Wait politely - I wish they would -
But urgently they beg and plead,
And push each other - oh, so rude!

Finally, they begin to feed
Heads all down, they keep munching on
Heaven knows, it's really just greed -
In five minutes, it has all gone!

Quatrains :
4-line stanzas. Can be cross-rhymed, or ABAB; envelope-rhymed, or ABBA. The Rubai is a quatrain form from Persia, with a rhyme scheme of AABA. I did not know that this famous verse was from the Ruba'yat of Omar Khayyam (translated by Edward Fitzgerald, in iambic pentameter to boot):

The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

Alas, my own effort cannot compare:

Our Casey cat often treats us with hauteur
We ask her to sit, to come and drink water
But unless she gets her favourite treats
She only obeys should it be her pleasure.

(Note: use of weak endings. Also, pleasure is not a perfect rhyme - assonance?)

Poetry Exercise No. 11 will be continued in my next post. There is still Rhyme Royal, and Ottava Rima to go! Plus the Spencerian Stanza!

Poetry Exercise No. 10 : Finding rhymes

We are now supposed to find rhymes for two words: "girl" and "martyr".

Here's what I got for girl: curl, churl, earl, unfurl, hurl, merle, pearl, swirl, whirl, twirl

And for martyr (not sure whether some count): barter, carter, charter, darter, garter, parter, partner, quarter, water, encarta, pinata (ok this is prob not too correct).

Here's a rhyming dictionary if anyone wants to check.

Poetry Exercise No. 8: Syllabic Verse

Instead of counting beats or feet, count syllables only. Examples of syllabic verse include the Haiku.

The exercise:

Part 1: Alternate lines of seven and five syllables, two quatrains worth.

Torrential tropical rain
Against my window
I feel a chill in the air
And miss my warm bed

In the afternoon it slows
To a light drizzle
The umbrellas still stay out
The dark clouds remain

Part 2: Two stanzas of verse with the following number of syllables in the successive lines - 3, 6, 1, 4, 8, 4, 1, 6, 3

On my bed
I find short coarse white fur
Cats
Can’t keep them off
Who knows what they trek on my sheets
From the garden
Or
From the wide world outside
What to do…

They do say
Cats are clean animals
And
These born hunters
Keep the roaches and the lizards down
And so I brush
Off
The fur from my sheets and
Pat their heads

This is the last poetry-writing exercise on metre. Moving on to rhyme!

p.s. Due to popular demand please find below one photo of cats on my bed.

Poetry Exercise No. 7 : Accentual-Alliterative Verse

Ok, so what is that? Iambic pentameter (and its friends) represent the world of "accentual-syllabic" verse. "Accentual-alliterative" verse is from ye olde Anglo-Saxon poetry tradition, where the accents fall on alliterated words, save for the last. Fry calls this "Bang Bang Bang Crash". The exercise is to write about 18-20 lines (I ended up with 16) on the subject of what you want to eat/don't want to eat, right this minute. I had just finished dinner when I started on this, so the poem is really about the happy days in the Residence Inn dining area eating uncooked veggies and salsa and tacos for dinner.

Of my favourite foods I fantasise when overseas
Of chilli crab, and chicken rice I dream
Memories of mee siam cause me to drool
And longing for laksa leaves me weak.

Of nonya nosh I’ll never get too much of
A bit of sambal belacan on the side
I’d love to have loads of lemak gravy too
The rich rempah in it really is a treat.

No boiled brussel sprouts or broccoli for dinner
No burnt bacon, cold bangers, or mash
No undercooked hor d’ouevres which don’t excite me
And throw out the tough and stringy meat

Oh, when I want a wantan or roti prata
Or pine for prawn paste chicken (har cheong kai)
I find these delicious dishes don’t come by easy
Outside the sunny shores of Singapore.

Poetry Exercise No. 6

This time the exercise is on the use of ternary feet (ie, three beats instead of two to a foot - eg ditty-dum, dum-ditty and the like.)

The exercise is in two parts. First, to write directions (to your home) using some anapestic hexameters (anapaests go 3 beats to a foot, stress on the 3rd beat i.e. ditty-dum, hexameters indicate a total of 6 feet/stresses per line).

However I do not intend to give directions to my house on-line! So I will give directions to Raffles Hotel instead (from the east coast) :-)

It's a drive down the ECP exit at Rochor Road, filtering left
Watch the hot air balloon as it makes its ascent; then turn left once again.
You're on North Bridge Road, driving past Liang Seah and Purvis Streets; stop at the lights!
With a turn into Seah street you're there and so welcome to Raffles Hotel.
(If you find these directions just cannot compare with a map then click here)

The second part of the exercise is to write some dactylic pentameter (dactyls go dum-ditty i.e. stress is on the first of three beats) on the subject of cows. The first four dactyls should be followed by a spondee, i.e. two stressed accents.

Once there were two lads named Jerry and Ben who made ice cream!
Black and white cows can be seen on each pint of their product,
Free from recombinant growth hormone cows gave such fresh milk,
It's no surprise that these guys made a pile from their dessert!

Now that's making me hungry for ice cream!

Poetry Exercise No. 5

Here we take a break from iambic pentameter and move instead into iambic tetrameter!

This exercise has three parts. The subject - television.

Part 1: Write two quatrains of iambic tetrameter (four beats per line)

Domestic Goddesshood awaits
For those who take a careful note
Of how Nigella brews and bakes
And cuts her fruit and fries her steaks.

The story of these interns five
To be a surgeon they aspire
Such mixed up lives and loves they lead
Whilst struggling to save life and limb

Part 2: Two quatrains of alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter (three beats per line)

"The Making of the Leap Years" show
Who really gives a damn
Ad nauseum plays the trailers too
Far more than for the film.

Let Seetoh guide you to the best
Of food in Singapore
Three chopsticks means "die die must try"
In Makansutra Raw.

Part 3: 2 quatrains in "trochaic tetrameter", the first with eight syllables per line and the second with the last syllable dropped every second line.

First they sing with heart and soul then
Stand to hear the judges' comments
Idol fame and fortune waits for
He who wins the viewers over.

Down with syndicates exploiting
Fans of English Premier League
Broadcast charges they keep raising
It's a deadly sin, is greed.

Poetry Exercise No. 4

Ok, so now I have learnt about variations on the iambic pentameter. These include:

Trochaic substitutions - the stress is on the first instead of the second beat in each foot, i.e. dum-da rather than da-dum.
Phyrric substitutions - no stresses in either beat.
Weak endings - adding an 11th syllable (unstressed) at the end of the line. One of the most famous quotations ending weakly is:

To be or not to be, that is the question.

The exercise for this section is: 16 unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter, with points given for trochaic substitutions (5 pts), phyrric substitutions (5 pts) and weak endings (hendecasyllables) (2 pts). Enjambments can be included too (2 pts). Subject: the News.

She cried, "Why are you talking to my husband?"
And then she gave the stewardess a slap.

Trochaic substitution (T) at "Why", weak ending (H) at "husband". Phyrric substitution (P) in "stewardess". 12 pts

Singapore won the Youth Olympics bid!
With cheers and shouts we greet the happy news.
Now the work starts to make sure all is ready.

T - "Singapore", "Now", H- "ready" . 12 pts

Spend more and tax less - Parliament debates
The pros and cons. Estate duty just died.
I got a tax rebate. Others got cash.

T - "Spend", "Others"; P - "Parliament". Enjambment (E) from first to second line. 17 pts

Amazing Race Asia was won by two
Singapore boys. It pays to know your flags.

Ts in "Asia", "Singapore". E in first line. 12 pts.

Oh foolish men! Power One called - you tried
And ended up in hospital instead.
Next time, don't stinge. Just go and buy some viagra.

T in "Power One" , "Next", E at first line, P at "hospital", H in last line. 19 pts.

So was the Spielberg magic meant to play
Over the crowds at Beijing's new Olympic
Stadium? He said, they said, we don't care.

T - at "Over", H - at "Olympic", E in second line, T at "Stadium". 14 points.

86 points. Not too good. But this was tough!

Poetry Exercise No. 3

The assignment: to write 5 pairs of iambic pentameter in blank verse about 5 assigned subjects, with the first line of each pair end-stopped.

Thereafter, to repeat the exercise but including two caesura (stops in the line) and one enjambment (carrying on to the next line) in the pair.

Subject 1: What you see and hear outside your window.

I hear the traffic come and go outside
The fast cars put my cats in danger too

I hear the cars go rushing past, and hope
The cats are safe; and resting in their beds.

Subject 2: What you want to eat, right this minute.

Pineapple tart ice cream is what I want
Its sitting in the freezer tempting me

Too many calories! Pineapple tart
Ice cream tastes so good - but no seconds, please!

Subject 3: What you last remember dreaming about

I can't recall what I dreamed of last night
But in my dreams I learnt to fly away

What did I dream about? I don't recall
But in my dreams I fly, I glide and soar.

Subject 4: What uncompleted chores are niggling at you

The buttons on my clothes keep falling off
I have to find the time to sew them on

My skirt's too tight. Each time my buttons fall
I sew them on - or buy a brand new skirt.

Subject 5: What I hate about my body

The bunions on my feet are sticking out
They make it tough for me to buy nice shoes


Not these shoes, and not heels - my bunions stick
Out from the sides. Those simple ones will do.

Done. And harder than the last time.

Poetry Exercise No. 2

Killing two birds with one stone - posting new entries and at the same time doing the prescribed exercises from "The Ode Less Travelled", a poetry writing book by Stephen Fry.

The exercise is to write 20 lines of iambic pentameter. That's 20 lines of words totalling 10 syllables, with the stresses on the even syllables. No rhymes required. Here goes:

Orlando likes to swagger through the house

Its easy making New Year resolutions
But harder keeping Lentern observations

This is much harder than you think it is

With one big leap our Winky clears the wall
Or climbs the wooden frame to run away

I walked downstairs and saw my cats asleep
with arms entwined and heads just cheek to cheek

She waited for her angpow from her aunt

We cannot know what lies ahead for us
So bravely go and take a chance or two

I cooked the dinner for my family

I saw my neighbour burn some paper money
And wished that he will prosper through the year

I want to go to sit on sandy beach

Remember when the ang pows packets flowed ?
Those were the days when we were young and cute

In rainy weather we cannot go out

I watched as singers tried to prove themselves
While Randy, Paula, Simon sat and judged

Done!