Rannaigheact Mhor: Poetic Forms
Learn how to write the rannaigheact mhor, an Irish quatrain form with a lot of rules pressed into a few syllables. Get the guidelines and an example poem here.
I used to think the Welsh forms were the most complicated, but today's Irish form sure fits in a lot of rules in only 28 syllables. Let’s look at the rannaigheact mhor!
Rannaigheact Mhor Poems
There are actually several different rannaigheacts, which are Irish quatrains. I'm sure we'll cover other versions in the future, but today's rannaigheact mhor operates on a complex set of rules.
Here are the guidelines for the rannaigheact mhor:
- Quatrain with an abab rhyme scheme, including consonant end sounds
- Heptasyllabic lines, or 7 syllables per line
- At least 2 cross-rhymes in each couplet of each quatrain
- Final word of line 3 rhymes with interior of line 4
- At least 2 words alliterate in each line
- Final word of line 4 alliterates with preceding stressed word
- Final sound of poem echoes first sound of poem (common for Irish forms)
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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 a Rannaigheact Mhor Poem:
Fickle Fall, by Robert Lee Brewer
Falling for blue eyes is fake
if two make terrified too
you and talismans you take
for sake of whistle or woo.
Physical feelings shall fade
like shade on a weathered wall
making all things never made
or forbade for fickle fall.
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It should be easy to find the alliteration, but I'll map out the rhymes and cross-rhymes here:
xxxbxxa
xxaxxxb
bxxxxba
xaxxxxb
xxxxxdc
xcxxxxd
xxdxxxc
xxcxxxd
And as you can see, the poem begins and ends on "fall." Crazy form, right?
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.
