Day 14 ~ Couplet Poem for #NationalPoetryMonth and "30 poems in 30 days"

Okay, here is another basic poetry form – every poet should know how to write a couplet. It is the basis of other poems and it’s only TWO lines of poetry. How easy is that?

Although I’ve seen some that are totally random, the dictionary definition of a “couplet” suggests that they usually consist of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter (although in the spirit of “full disclosure,” they do not need to have the same meter). Gasp! In fact, if you opt for what is called an “unrhymed couplet” they don’t even have to have ending rhyming words. So, there is a little wiggle room when it comes to couplets.

Try expressing your complete thought in two mid-sized poetic lines. The last words traditionally rhyme. It can be spiritual or silly or romantic or whatever suits your fancy – couplets are great to write for children or with children.

It is possible to string a bunch of couplets together to create a longer poem, but for today – just try creating one or more individual 2-line couplets, unless you are bound and determined to make a longer poem. 

Just a few more explanations when it comes to couplets: when a couplet can stand alone from the rest of the poem, it is considered independent, and it is called a “closed couplet.” Conversely, a couplet that cannot stand alone without the rest of the poem is an “open couplet.”

There actually are quite a variety of couplets – if you feel so inclined to research them – here are a few: Heroic Couplet, Unrhymed Couplet, Blank Verse Couplet, Short Couplet, Split Couplet, Qasida, Alexandrine Couplet, Shakespearean Couplet, and Chinese Couplet. No doubt there are more, but that’s a start.

OK, for examples here are a couple of couplets (hee hee) that I wrote quite a few years ago. For what they are worth (one is simple; the other is silly):

~~ I was thinking about the Lord's tender mercies and came up with this:

I know the Lord is mindful of me,

And it makes me happy as can be.

                             © 2011 by Stephanie Abney

~~ then, in a moment of frustration, I thought a little on "getting one's nose out of joint" and came up with this:

Writing this little assignment
Puts my nose out of alignment.

                               © 2011 by Stephanie Abney

Did you think of a couplet? Just look around and think on an object or an emotion and give it a shot!!

 PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work and the creative work of others.

  

DAY 4 ~ "Nature Color Poem" for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

OK, let’s string together some couplets since we know who to write them… some of you already strung them together but this time we are going to be writing a Nature Color Poem ~ It's fun and made up of a series of couplets (depending on how long you want it - or even just one couplet if you choose to only do one color).

A “nature color poem” tells about the color of something in nature using rhyme. 

Here are the guidelines:

~ It’s made up of couplets. (I can’t see where you need the same beats for the entire poem so unless I learn otherwise, I’ll say just keep the syllables the same for EACH couplet that you use in your poem.

~ The first word in each couplet is the color of something in nature.

~ The two ending words in each couplet are the words that need to rhyme and both lines should have the same number of syllables or beats.

~ It can be as long as you wish, just start with a different color for each verse (couplet) . . .

This is an example I wrote a few years ago and I was really tired when I wrote it, but since I’m still kind of busy-crazy with finishing up a couple of college courses right now, I’m going to use it again – it’s on the silly side; certainly not heartfelt about our beautiful earth – but it illustrates the poetry form and I can’t wait to see what you come up with:

Yellow sunshine beckons me,

To come out so I can see.

Blue skies over my head,

I have nothing to dread.

Pink flowers are pretty to smell,

I have a cold, it’s hard to tell.

Green blades of grass seem to call me,

Oh, wait, I've got an allergy.

                       © 2015 Stephanie Abney

So, let’s get writing!! Cheers!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

Day 2 ~ How to Write a “Couplet Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

I love introducing a couplet poem on Day 2 – seems appropriate, that a couple of days into the poetry writing challenge, we should write a couplet. (On day four – we will learn to write quatrains). 

But back to couplets: they are SO basic that it’s nice to address it early on in the month. Every poet should know how to write a couplet. It can be the basis of longer poems (such as a Sonnet or Ghazal). There are even several types of couplets, such as: the Heroic, Elegiac, Chinese or Poetic Epigram (if you are feeling ambitious or looking for additional challenges – feel free to look these types of couplets up and try them out – let us know if you choose one).

But, for the basic couplet, it is simply TWO lines of poetry, with the same beat (basically, that equals your syllable count) and ending rhyme. And that is as simple as it gets and what we will focus on today – there are other views of what makes a couplet and I have included a bit of that info below if you are curious.

HANDY TOOL:  (even used a couplet to present it). LOL (BTW, the word poem is only 1 syllable. Yeah, you will probably double check that… but it is).

And, so, before this month of poetry is through,

You may want access to this handy little tool!

Free Online Syllable Counter: Syllable Counter

Since yesterday was Easter - I chose this little COUPLE as our graphic for the poetry form "couplet" ~ cheers!! 

Day 2 will be fun and super easy:

Carefully stringing thoughts along
Into lovely little word-songs.

                      © 2014 ~ Stephanie Abney

Although I’ve seen some couplets that are totally random, the dictionary definition of a “couplet” suggests that they usually consist of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter. The above example has 8 beats in each line and the endings rhyme well enough. So ~

Another thing to remember when writing a couple is that those two lines really need to be able to stand alone, expressing a complete thought in two mid-sized poetic lines. The last words of each line should rhyme. It can be spiritual or silly or romantic or whatever suits your fancy – couplets are great to write for children or with children.

Some definitions insist that couplets require that each line must contain ending punctuation (making them "closed" grammatical units).

It is possible to string a bunch of couplets together to create a longer poem, but for today – just try creating one or more individual 2-line couplets. Oh, and a couplet can be about ANY subject. What’s on your mind? How about putting together a couple of thoughts on the subject, rhyme the ending words and aim for the same meter on each line. What can you come up with?

Here’s a couple of couplets (hee hee) that I wrote about seven years ago, for what they’re worth (one is simple; the other is silly).

~ I was thinking about the Lord's tender mercies and came up with this:

I know the Lord is mindful of me,
And it makes me happy as can be.
                             © 2011 by Stephanie Abney

~ then, in a moment of frustration, I thought a little on "getting one's nose out of joint" and came up with this:

Writing this little assignment
Puts my nose out of alignment.
                               © 2011 by Stephanie Abney

Did you think of a couplet? Just look around and think on an object or an emotion and give it a shot!!

Last year when I managed to get my husband, some of my kids, and their kids to come up with some poetry together, I came up with this little couplet in memory of our fun evening:

Writing poems with the family is fun.

But it makes me sad to see now we’re done.

                               © 2017 by Stephanie Abney

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work. 

Day 2 ~ How to Write a “Couplet Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

I love introducing a couplet poem on Day 2 – seems appropriate, that a couple of days into the poetry writing challenge, we should write a couplet. And it’s SO basic that we should address it early on in the month. Every poet should know how to write a couplet. It can be the basis of other poems and it’s only TWO lines of poetry. How easy is that?

Carefully stringing thoughts along
Into lovely little word-songs.

                      © 2014 ~ Stephanie Abney

Although I’ve seen some that are totally random, the dictionary definition of a “couplet” suggests that they usually consist of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter. The above example has 8 beats in each line and the endings rhyme well enough. So ~

Another thing to remember when writing a couplet is that those two lines really need to be able to stand alone, expressing a complete thought in two mid-sized poetic lines. The last words of each line should rhyme. It can be spiritual or silly or romantic or whatever suits your fancy – couplets are great to write for children or with children.

It is possible to string a bunch of couplets together to create a longer poem, but for today – just try creating one or more individual 2-line couplets. Oh, and a couplet can be about ANY subject. What’s on your mind? How about putting together a couple of thoughts on the subject, rhyme the ending words and aim for the same meter on each line. What can you come up with?

Here a couple of couplets (hee hee) that I wrote about six years ago. Anyway, here they are, for what they’re worth (one is simple; the other is silly).

~ I was thinking about the Lord's tender mercies and came up with this:

I know the Lord is mindful of me,

And it makes me happy as can be.

 
                             © 2011 by Stephanie Abney

~ then, in a moment of frustration, I thought a little on "getting one's nose out of joint" and came up with this:
 

 

Writing this little assignment,

Puts my nose out of alignment.

 
                               © 2011 by Stephanie Abney

 

Did you think of a couplet? Just look around and think on an object or an emotion and give it a shot!!

Last night I managed to get my daughter and her four children, as young as five, to come up with “Lantern Poems.” I even wrangled one out of my husband, Jim. It was lots of fun. So, in memory of our lovely evening, I wrote:

Writing poems with the family is fun.

But it makes me sad to see that now we’re done.

                               © 2017 by Stephanie Abney

DAY 22 ~ "Nature Color Poem" for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

DAY 22 ~ "Nature Color Poem" for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth 

OK, since today is “Earth Day” and we just practiced couplets recently . . . let's write a Nature Color Poem ~ It's fun and made up of a series of couplets (depending on how long you want it - or even just one couplet if you choose to only do one color).

A “nature color poem” tells about the color of something in nature using rhyme. 

Here are the guidelines:

Ø It’s made up of couplets.

Ø The first word in each couplet is the color of something in nature.

Ø The two ending words in each couplet are the words that need to rhyme and both lines should have the same number of syllables or beats.

This is my example from last year and I was really tired when I wrote it and I’m taking a couple of college courses right now and I’m fresh out of ideas this year too. It is on the silly side; certainly not heartfelt about our beautiful earth – in fact, it’s BEYOND lame, but I can’t wait to see what you come up with:

Yellow sunshine beckons me,

To come out so I can see.

Blue skies over my head,

I have nothing to dread.

Pink flowers are pretty to smell,

I have a cold, it’s hard to tell.

Green blades of grass seem to call me,

Oh, wait, I've got an allergy.

                       © 2015 Stephanie Abney

So, Happy Earth Day and let’s get writing!! Cheers!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.