Clogyrnach: Poetic Forms
Learn how to write a clogyrnach, a six-line Welsh form, including guidelines for the form and an example poem.
With the November PAD Chapbook Challenge just around the corner, I'm trying to cover a few more poetic forms than usual, including today's offering: Clogyrnach!
Clogyrnach Poems
Besides being another fun form to say (like rimas dissolutas), clogyrnach is also a fun poem to write. This Welsh poetic form is typically a six-line syllabic stanza with an ab rhyme scheme:
Line 1: 8 syllables with an a rhyme
Line 2: 8 syllables with an a rhyme
Line 3: 5 syllables with a b rhyme
Line 4: 5 syllables with a b rhyme
Line 5: 3 syllables with a b rhyme
Line 6: 3 syllables with an a rhyme
Note: There's also a variant that combines lines 5 and 6 into one line--making a 5-line stanza (see my example below).
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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Here’s my attempt at Clogyrnach:
Leading a Horse to Water, by Robert Lee Brewer
When I was a horse, I saw light
reflect off the water at night--
the moon a bright rock
measured as a mock
up of clocks counting sights
I hoped that someday I would see,
though adventure eluded me
in my prison cell
echoing my yell
as I fell heavenly
into dark and dreamy attics
filled with jockeys in their spandex
and little black whips
with feverish grips
that will quip ecstatic!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
