Englyn Unodl Crwca: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the englyn unodl crwca, a Welsh quatrain form.
(Editor's note: I originally posted the name of this form as "englyn unold crwca," mistakenly transposing the "l" and "d" in "unodl." That mistake has since been corrected, and I'm sorry for any confusion it may have caused.)
Here's one more englyn form (maybe the last?). The englyn unodl crwca is another quatrain version of this Welsh poetic form.
Here are the guidelines for the englyn unodl crwca:
- Poem comprised of quatrains (or four-line stanzas)
- First two lines have seven syllables
- Line three has 10 syllables
- Line four has 6 syllables
- All lines share the same rhyme at the end, except for the third line which features the rhyme near the end
- The syllables after the rhyme near the end of the third line should be echoed at the beginning of the fourth line
*****
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).
*****
Here's my attempt at an Englyn Unodl Crwca poem:
"bad country song," by Robert Lee Brewer
if you like all that dancing
and that one-time romancing
then you ought to know you're chancing the odds
that I might start glancing
here and there around the place
for another pretty face
who won't constantly misplace my open
hope-filled loving embrace
so don't you go forsaking
all the love you been taking
cuz all your mistaking and deceiving's
leaving my heart breaking
(Note on example: This example is what happens when I start poeming right after listening to some old country songs.)
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.
