Zejel: Poetic Forms
This will be the final Poetic Form Friday until May. We’ll be a little busy poeming with the April PAD Challenge. Sooooo, let’s take a look at zejel. Zejel Poems…
This will be the final Poetic Form Friday until May. We'll be a little busy poeming with the April PAD Challenge. Sooooo, let's take a look at zejel.
Zejel Poems
The zejel is a very old Spanish poetic form that is also likely an even older Arabic poetic form with an origination date somewhere between the ninth and eleventh centuries. In fact, Edward Hirsch believes the form was probably invented by Mucaddam ben Muafa, a ninth century Hispano-Muslim poet.
Here are the basic rules for zejel:
- First stanza is a tercet (3-line stanza) with an AAA rhyme scheme
- All other stanzas are quatrains (4-line stanzas) with a XXXA rhyme scheme, so the second stanza would be BBBA, third CCCA, fourth DDDA, and so on to the end of the poem
- Lines are usually 8 syllables long
Alternate version: The version above is from Robin Skelton, but Hirsch offers an alternate version that begins with a couplet rhymed AA, followed by the BBBA, CCCA, etc. Also, Hirsch's version makes the repeating A line a refrain from the opening couplet that could be shorter than the other lines (sort of like in a rondeau).
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Here’s my attempt at Zejel:
give me a reason, by Robert Lee Brewer
give me a reason to run out
& empty myself of this doubt
that always follows me about
give me a reason or a sign
to let me know you will be mine
& that we'll soon be intertwined
like two wet tongues inside one mouth
or clasping fingers of two hands
that hold because they understand
they both have needs & soft demands
that burn within & yearn without
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). When in doubt, he writes a love poem. Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.
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.
