Cyhydedd Hir: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the cyhydedd hir, a Welsh quatrain form.
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the cyhydedd hir, a Welsh quatrain form.
Cyhydedd Hir Poems
The cyhydedd hir (not to be confused with the cyhydedd fer) is a Welsh poetic form comprised of quatrains (4-line stanzas). Here are basic guidelines:
- lines one, two, and three have five syllables
- line four has four syllables
- lines one, two, and three rhyme with each other
- line four of the first quatrain rhymes with line four of the second quatrain
Note on stanzas: While this is a quatrain form, consecutive quatrains can be combined (to connect the fourth line rhymes) to make this an octave (8-line stanza) form. I've formatted my example below for both variations.
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Here’s my attempt at a cyhydedd hir:
Quatrain version:
Pretenders, by Robert Lee Brewer
Pretenders pretend
as the night descends
& pain starts to mend
for a short while
& lovers unite
in the fading light
of their fight or flight
for a shared smile
that sings love & fear
whether far or near
in their fragile ears
when they're alone
& pain makes them quake
& begin to shake
as they lie awake
on a fake throne.
Octave version:
Pretenders, by Robert Lee Brewer
Pretenders pretend
as the night descends
& pain starts to mend
for a short while
& lovers unite
in the fading light
of their fight or flight
for a shared smile
that sings love & fear
whether far or near
in their fragile ears
when they're alone
& pain makes them quake
& begin to shake
as they lie awake
on a fake throne.
(As you can see, the main difference is whether to connect the rhyming quatrains or not.)
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.
