Ya-du: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the ya-du, a Burmese quintain form.
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the ya-du, a Burmese quintain form.
Ya-du Poems
The ya-du is a Burmese poetic form. Here are the guidelines:
- Quintains (or five-line stanzas).
- Four syllables in the first four lines.
- The final line has either five, seven, nine, or 11 syllables.
- The fourth syllable of the first line rhymes with the third syllable of the second line and the second syllable of the third line.
- The fourth syllable of the third line rhymes with the third syllable of the fourth line and the second syllable of the fifth line.
- The fourth syllable of the fourth line rhymes with the final syllable of the final line.
- Subject usually deals with seasons.
- Most ya-du are written in three or fewer stanzas.
Here's a way to visualize the structure/rhymes (with a 5-syllable final line):
xxxa
xxax
xaxb
xxbc
xbxxc
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Here’s my attempt at a ya-du:
autumn, by Robert Lee Brewer
on walden pond
we sang songs of
our long summers
of wonder we
never seemed to leave
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.
