Be a Better Writer--TINY POEMS
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 9:01 am
Here’s a bit of a change of pace, and a chance for you—both poets and prose writers—to write something even smaller than a Writing Challenge entry. I’m talking about two well-known and relatively easy poetic forms: the haiku and the limerick.
Let’s start with the easier one, the haiku.
In its purest form, a haiku is a little poem with the following characteristics:
• seventeen syllables (5, then 7, then 5)
• about nature
• some unexpected juxtaposition of ideas or images
• no title
• punctuation or capitalization is optional
• no rhyme
Here are two examples of haiku that meet all those characteristics (these are by the novelist Richard Wright):
Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging
In the April wind.
The day is so long
That even noisy sparrows
Fall strangely silent.
You can read more of Richard Wright’s haiku here.
Frequently, people write haiku using only the first and last of the bulleted rules above. These may be written on any topic and with any mood. I’ve been amused by the haiku supposedly written by dogs or cats, and the computer-related haiku on these websites:
Cat haiku
Dog haiku
Computer haiku
Obviously, haiku are far too short for Writing Challenge entries—but you can write a series of them on the challenge theme, as I did for the week in which the topic was Fragrance. I found lots of Scriptures that used fragrance (or some synonym) and wrote haiku for ten of them. I added titles to increase my word count.
These are things that you can do, too, for something new and “stretchy.”
HOMEWORK #1: Write a few haiku. Try some that meet all the bullet points in the lesson, and then one or two just for fun.
Another little poem is the limerick. It’s a bit looser in its definition than the haiku, but these things are usually true about limericks:
• they have 5 lines
• no title
• the rhyme scheme is (AABBA), that is, lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with each other, and lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other
• they are usually humorous or lighthearted (in fact, they are often naughty. I won’t be dealing with the naughty ones here!)
• they usually have a STRESSED/unstressed/unstressed meter (this is called an anapest, for those of you who like to know that sort of thing), with frequent additions of an extra unstressed syllable at the beginning or end of a line.
• Lines 1, 2, and 5 are longer than lines 3 and 4
• They often start with something along the line of There was an old woman from [place] or A certain young man who [something].
Here’s an example of a limerick that fulfills all of the above:
A charming young lady from Glasgow
Tried seasoning her tea with Tabasco.
She flavored the beef
With a large hemlock leaf,
So the meal was quite a fiasco!
By the way—if you know the old hymn Blest Be the Tie that Binds, you can usually sing a limerick to that tune, more or less.
As with the haiku, you can’t make a Writing Challenge entry with a limerick, but you can string several together to make an entry. Here’s an example of what that might look like. Obviously, I disregarded the fourth and seventh bullet points for this entry—and you can, too.
However, I don’t recommend disregarding the meter of a limerick—without that meter, it just doesn’t feel limerick-y.
HOMEWORK #2: Write a limerick or two. Try to meet all of the bullet points, especially the fifth one.
Do you have any questions or comments about haiku or limericks?
Do you have other suggestions for how they could be used in challenge entries?
If you have a challenge entry that features haiku or limericks, please link to it, and share with us any of your thought process in creating it.
What would you like to see a lesson about in the future?
Let’s start with the easier one, the haiku.
In its purest form, a haiku is a little poem with the following characteristics:
• seventeen syllables (5, then 7, then 5)
• about nature
• some unexpected juxtaposition of ideas or images
• no title
• punctuation or capitalization is optional
• no rhyme
Here are two examples of haiku that meet all those characteristics (these are by the novelist Richard Wright):
Whitecaps on the bay:
A broken signboard banging
In the April wind.
The day is so long
That even noisy sparrows
Fall strangely silent.
You can read more of Richard Wright’s haiku here.
Frequently, people write haiku using only the first and last of the bulleted rules above. These may be written on any topic and with any mood. I’ve been amused by the haiku supposedly written by dogs or cats, and the computer-related haiku on these websites:
Cat haiku
Dog haiku
Computer haiku
Obviously, haiku are far too short for Writing Challenge entries—but you can write a series of them on the challenge theme, as I did for the week in which the topic was Fragrance. I found lots of Scriptures that used fragrance (or some synonym) and wrote haiku for ten of them. I added titles to increase my word count.
These are things that you can do, too, for something new and “stretchy.”
HOMEWORK #1: Write a few haiku. Try some that meet all the bullet points in the lesson, and then one or two just for fun.
Another little poem is the limerick. It’s a bit looser in its definition than the haiku, but these things are usually true about limericks:
• they have 5 lines
• no title
• the rhyme scheme is (AABBA), that is, lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with each other, and lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other
• they are usually humorous or lighthearted (in fact, they are often naughty. I won’t be dealing with the naughty ones here!)
• they usually have a STRESSED/unstressed/unstressed meter (this is called an anapest, for those of you who like to know that sort of thing), with frequent additions of an extra unstressed syllable at the beginning or end of a line.
• Lines 1, 2, and 5 are longer than lines 3 and 4
• They often start with something along the line of There was an old woman from [place] or A certain young man who [something].
Here’s an example of a limerick that fulfills all of the above:
A charming young lady from Glasgow
Tried seasoning her tea with Tabasco.
She flavored the beef
With a large hemlock leaf,
So the meal was quite a fiasco!
By the way—if you know the old hymn Blest Be the Tie that Binds, you can usually sing a limerick to that tune, more or less.
As with the haiku, you can’t make a Writing Challenge entry with a limerick, but you can string several together to make an entry. Here’s an example of what that might look like. Obviously, I disregarded the fourth and seventh bullet points for this entry—and you can, too.
However, I don’t recommend disregarding the meter of a limerick—without that meter, it just doesn’t feel limerick-y.
HOMEWORK #2: Write a limerick or two. Try to meet all of the bullet points, especially the fifth one.
Do you have any questions or comments about haiku or limericks?
Do you have other suggestions for how they could be used in challenge entries?
If you have a challenge entry that features haiku or limericks, please link to it, and share with us any of your thought process in creating it.
What would you like to see a lesson about in the future?