Search the Community

Poetry Prompt 8 – Quatrains Let's Write some Quatrains! Last prompt we took a major step forward, although it was so smooth ( ) you may not have noticed it. We went from lyric poetry, with its rhythms based on lines of 6 or 8 syllables to narrative poetry, where the line lengths are set at 10 or 12 syllables. The Quatrain is a storytelling device, and unlike the simple heartstrings of the Lyric form, the narrative qualities of the Quatrain can move a reader along just like a story does: with a beginning, a middle (development) and an end. And although the term can be used to talk about any 4-lined strophe of verse, for us it means something specific. It means four lines rhymed a-b-a-b, and having a total of 40 syllables, 10 per line. The history of why 10 syllables became the standard storytelling form in English is a bit odd. Classical Latin and Greek poetry is remarkably consistent in favoring 12 beats per line, and even Chaucer wrote that way. The Earl of Surrey was the great innovator, for in his work in translating Italian sonnets into English, he fell into a natural 10 beat rhythm, which he later used un-rhymed and called 'Blank Verse.' Without him, we would not have the English Sonnet or the blank verse that folks like Marlowe and Shakespeare used so well. Inspiration? Oh yeah, there are a lot of fantastic Quatrains in the English language, don't worry about that! Here is a little gem, and sorry about the carnage That drinks and still is dry. At last they perished – His second son was levelled by a shot; His third was sabred; and the fourth, most cherished Of all the five, on bayonets met his lot. (Canto Eight, Don Juan, Byron) Byron rather smoothly uses the Quatrain in a conversational style to simply tell us what happened to this poor man's children. Other times nothing can surpasses the grandeur of the Quatrain to talk about our personal stories of love, like this one: When wasteful war shall statues overturn, And broils root out the work of masonry, Not Mars his sword, nor war's quick fire shall burn, The living record of your memory. (Sonnet 55, Shakespeare) For a contemporary poet using the Quatrain to great effect, check out the following link to a work by Gert Strydom. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if-there-is-something-more-wreathed-quatrains-in-answer-to-edgar-allan-poe/ So, if you are thinking of tackling your own Quatrain, how do you start? Start with the story you wish to tell, and it can be a simple one. How the coffee spilled in the car and made you late for work; how the puppy wags his tail and makes your blues disappear; how the flowers are blooming now because you laid mulch down last autumn. You get the picture – you can write about the Trojan War if you want to, but I'm sure you have your own stories, so use 'em! Once you know what you want to story-tell about, I suggest you write out the first two lines. Review. Are they in the proper metre? Are the two words at the end of the lines easy to come up with a rhyme for? If so, write the next two lines. Done. If NOT, then tweak the first two lines until you have the rhythm, and have words that you can think of easy and natural rhymes for. Only then proceed to the last two. The prompt: write two Quatrains. One inspired by the sights of spring around you right now (or autumn, if you are below the Equator). And a second one telling us how you feel inside about it. It can be happy or sad, or indifferent – it's all up to you! Keep the Quatrains to four lines, rhyming a-b-a-b, and 10 syllables per line. Don't get frustrated, just have fun with it.