Will Dockery
2014-04-01 22:45:20 UTC
"Sonnet? Villanelle? Sestina? Haiku? Blank Verse? Epigram? Ode? What
is your fancy? If you've never tried one of these, give one a
whirl." -Karla Rogers
This is an old April tradition that rates a continuation, originally helmed
by Karla and Rik, maybe one of our newer regulars will want to continue such
a thread.
Since I have 5-6 old ones handy, I'll start with the Sestina... several of
which I have in my notebooks untyped and never before seen, at least a
couple of them worth exposing.
So, here's the first, for April 1st, "Honeytrip Sestina":
http://www.groupsrv.com/usenet/view.php?c=other&g=2126&id=470421&p=107
Honeytrip Sestina
Beads of sweat as I drive on 280,
thinking about a lonesome wildflower.
Cross country for this honeytrip,
going down to incant a shadowmusic,
joined on stage by her fiddle,
swear to god I really miss her.
She knows that I've missed her,
she drives alone on highway 280.
Her grandfather also played fiddle,
and grew gov'ment wildflowers.
Let him play his shadowmusic,
as we recall the honeytrip.
Backpacked, hitchhiked to honeytrip,
waterfall spray did mist her,
we formed a band to play shadowmusic.
Down in Salem, on Highway 280,
saw the sign of Project Wildflower,
a contra agent but plays good fiddle.
In the night sirens played fiddle,
rustling wail of honey trip.
Behind her ear was a wildflower,
I knew some day I would miss her.
Looking for tea olive on 280,
to play a few hours of shadowmusic.
Down a moonlit mile wild shadowmusic,
Bibb Mill burned as he played fiddle.
Westbound down Highway 280,
like a hound for the honeytrip,
after all her lies I still missed her,
blowing kisses from a field of wildflowers.
Sang a melody like "Wildwood Flower",
she made it her own kind of shadowmusic.
When he stepped on stage we called him mister,
ghost of Sgt. Fury playing show fiddle.
The only crown prince of honey trip,
people parked and walked from 280.
Smell the wildflowers, surrounded by shadowmusic,
I miss her and her grandfather's fiddle.
Lonesome o*d honeytrip, in a hollow off 280.
-Will Dockery
Some information of writing a Sestina poem challenge for the first week of
April:
http://pennyspoetry.wikia.com/wiki/Sestina
A '''sestina''' (also, '''sextina''', '''sestine''', or '''sextain''') is a
highly structured [[verse forms|verse form]] consisting of six six-line
[[stanza]]s or [[sestet]]s , followed by a three-line [[tercet]] (called the
''[[envoi|envoy]]'' or ''[[Tornada (Occitan literary term)|tornada]]''), for
a total of thirty-nine lines. It is normally written, in English, in
[[iambic pentameter]] .
==Form==
The same set of six words ends the six lines of each of the six-line
stanzas, but in a different order each time; following which, all six words
are again used in the tornada.
If we number the first stanza's lines 123456, then the words ending the
second stanza's lines appear in the order 615243, then 364125, then 532614,
then 451362, and finally 246531. This organization is referred to as
''retrogradatio cruciata'' ("retrograde cross"). The six words then appear
in the tercet as well, with the tercet's first line usually containing 6 and
2, its second 1 and 4, and its third 5 and 3.
===Variations===
An alternative form exists using a couplet, instead of a tercet, with the
word orders 123 and 456 or 135 and 246. An even rarer form exists using a
haiku, instead of a tercet, in the traditional 575 structure. Yet other rare
alternate forms either reverses the closing word order of the six stanzas
before the tercet, yielding 123456, 246531, 451362, 532614, 364125, and
615243, or restructure the order into a different "retrograde cross" form
such as 123456, 435261, 256314, 361542, 514623, 642135.
==History==
The sestina was invented in the late 12th century by the
[[Provence|Provençal]] [[troubadour]] [[Arnaut Daniel]]. Elements of it were
quickly imitated by other troubadours, such as [[Guilhem Peire Cazals de
Caortz]].
The oldest British example of the form is a pair of sestinas (frequently
referred to as a double sestina), "Ye Goat-Herd Gods", written by [[Philip
Sidney]]. Writers such as [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]],
[[Petrarch|Francesco Petrarca]] , [[Algernon Charles Swinburne|A.C.
Swinburne]] , [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Ezra Pound]], [[W.H. Auden]], [[John
Ashbery]], [[Joan Brossa]], [[Miller Williams]], [[Elizabeth Bishop]],
[[Paul Muldoon]] and [[Joe Haldeman]] are all noted for having written
sestinas of some fame.
==Double Sestina==
What some consider a "double sestina" is similar in structure to a sestina,
but uses a pattern of twelve repeating end-words, reordered through twelve
stanzas, with a six-line envoi. Applying the ''retrogradatio cruciata''
organization to twelve line end-words to obtain a "double sestina" pattern
produces 12 1 11 2 10 3 9 4 8 5 7 6 in the second stanza, 6 12 7 1 5 11 8 2
4 10 9 3 in the third, and so on. The end-word order returns to the starting
sequence in the eleventh stanza; thus it does not, unlike the "single"
sestina, allow for every end-word to occupy each of the stanza ends;
end-words 5 and 10 fail to couple between stanzas. (Similar problems arise
if the ''retrogradatio cruciata'' is applied to most other stanza lengths;
but not all, e.g. 9, 11 and 14 lines).
It is difficult to devise a ''retrogradatio cruciata''-type dodecazain
pattern which has all the virtues of the sestina. In the "Complaint of Lisa"
Swinburne employs six rhyming pairs of end-words across 12 dodecazains;
reusing them, however, whenever it was convenient, and thus departing from
the ''retrogradatio cruciata'' pattern. A sestina-purist approach to
producing a 12 dodecazain "double sestina" might be to work within whatever
is thrown up by the ''retrogradatio cruciata'' pattern.
==See also==
* [[How to write a sestina]]
==External links==
*
"[http://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2011/06/sestina-of-memories-je-ball.html
A Sestina of Memories] ," by J.E. Ball.
* "[http://www.nolanchart.com/article5729_Sestina_Gardeners_of_Eden.html
Gardeners of Eden]," by George Dance.
* [http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page9.html
Forms of Verse-Sestina]
* [http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5792 Poetic Form: Sestina] at
Poets.org
* [http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/CraftOfPoetry/sestina.html Craft of
Poetry--Sestina]
* [http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/arnaut_daniel/arnaut_daniel_09.php The
first sestina, in Provençal and English]
* [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/sestinas/ Dozens of sestinas submitted to
McSweeney's]
* [http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/sestina.htm Guide to Verse Forms -
Sestina]
* [http://poetry.poetryx.com/genre/11/ Sestinas] and
[http://poetry.poetryx.com/genre/26/ double sestinas] at Poetry X
* [http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/sestina.htm Poetry forms- The
Sestina]
* [http://www.math.pacificu.edu/~emmons/dox/S_estina.pdf - S|{e,s,t,i,n,a}|,
a math poem]
* [http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/schimel4.shtml Poetic License: Some
Thoughts on Sestinas]
is your fancy? If you've never tried one of these, give one a
whirl." -Karla Rogers
This is an old April tradition that rates a continuation, originally helmed
by Karla and Rik, maybe one of our newer regulars will want to continue such
a thread.
Since I have 5-6 old ones handy, I'll start with the Sestina... several of
which I have in my notebooks untyped and never before seen, at least a
couple of them worth exposing.
So, here's the first, for April 1st, "Honeytrip Sestina":
http://www.groupsrv.com/usenet/view.php?c=other&g=2126&id=470421&p=107
Honeytrip Sestina
Beads of sweat as I drive on 280,
thinking about a lonesome wildflower.
Cross country for this honeytrip,
going down to incant a shadowmusic,
joined on stage by her fiddle,
swear to god I really miss her.
She knows that I've missed her,
she drives alone on highway 280.
Her grandfather also played fiddle,
and grew gov'ment wildflowers.
Let him play his shadowmusic,
as we recall the honeytrip.
Backpacked, hitchhiked to honeytrip,
waterfall spray did mist her,
we formed a band to play shadowmusic.
Down in Salem, on Highway 280,
saw the sign of Project Wildflower,
a contra agent but plays good fiddle.
In the night sirens played fiddle,
rustling wail of honey trip.
Behind her ear was a wildflower,
I knew some day I would miss her.
Looking for tea olive on 280,
to play a few hours of shadowmusic.
Down a moonlit mile wild shadowmusic,
Bibb Mill burned as he played fiddle.
Westbound down Highway 280,
like a hound for the honeytrip,
after all her lies I still missed her,
blowing kisses from a field of wildflowers.
Sang a melody like "Wildwood Flower",
she made it her own kind of shadowmusic.
When he stepped on stage we called him mister,
ghost of Sgt. Fury playing show fiddle.
The only crown prince of honey trip,
people parked and walked from 280.
Smell the wildflowers, surrounded by shadowmusic,
I miss her and her grandfather's fiddle.
Lonesome o*d honeytrip, in a hollow off 280.
-Will Dockery
Some information of writing a Sestina poem challenge for the first week of
April:
http://pennyspoetry.wikia.com/wiki/Sestina
A '''sestina''' (also, '''sextina''', '''sestine''', or '''sextain''') is a
highly structured [[verse forms|verse form]] consisting of six six-line
[[stanza]]s or [[sestet]]s , followed by a three-line [[tercet]] (called the
''[[envoi|envoy]]'' or ''[[Tornada (Occitan literary term)|tornada]]''), for
a total of thirty-nine lines. It is normally written, in English, in
[[iambic pentameter]] .
==Form==
The same set of six words ends the six lines of each of the six-line
stanzas, but in a different order each time; following which, all six words
are again used in the tornada.
If we number the first stanza's lines 123456, then the words ending the
second stanza's lines appear in the order 615243, then 364125, then 532614,
then 451362, and finally 246531. This organization is referred to as
''retrogradatio cruciata'' ("retrograde cross"). The six words then appear
in the tercet as well, with the tercet's first line usually containing 6 and
2, its second 1 and 4, and its third 5 and 3.
===Variations===
An alternative form exists using a couplet, instead of a tercet, with the
word orders 123 and 456 or 135 and 246. An even rarer form exists using a
haiku, instead of a tercet, in the traditional 575 structure. Yet other rare
alternate forms either reverses the closing word order of the six stanzas
before the tercet, yielding 123456, 246531, 451362, 532614, 364125, and
615243, or restructure the order into a different "retrograde cross" form
such as 123456, 435261, 256314, 361542, 514623, 642135.
==History==
The sestina was invented in the late 12th century by the
[[Provence|Provençal]] [[troubadour]] [[Arnaut Daniel]]. Elements of it were
quickly imitated by other troubadours, such as [[Guilhem Peire Cazals de
Caortz]].
The oldest British example of the form is a pair of sestinas (frequently
referred to as a double sestina), "Ye Goat-Herd Gods", written by [[Philip
Sidney]]. Writers such as [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]],
[[Petrarch|Francesco Petrarca]] , [[Algernon Charles Swinburne|A.C.
Swinburne]] , [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Ezra Pound]], [[W.H. Auden]], [[John
Ashbery]], [[Joan Brossa]], [[Miller Williams]], [[Elizabeth Bishop]],
[[Paul Muldoon]] and [[Joe Haldeman]] are all noted for having written
sestinas of some fame.
==Double Sestina==
What some consider a "double sestina" is similar in structure to a sestina,
but uses a pattern of twelve repeating end-words, reordered through twelve
stanzas, with a six-line envoi. Applying the ''retrogradatio cruciata''
organization to twelve line end-words to obtain a "double sestina" pattern
produces 12 1 11 2 10 3 9 4 8 5 7 6 in the second stanza, 6 12 7 1 5 11 8 2
4 10 9 3 in the third, and so on. The end-word order returns to the starting
sequence in the eleventh stanza; thus it does not, unlike the "single"
sestina, allow for every end-word to occupy each of the stanza ends;
end-words 5 and 10 fail to couple between stanzas. (Similar problems arise
if the ''retrogradatio cruciata'' is applied to most other stanza lengths;
but not all, e.g. 9, 11 and 14 lines).
It is difficult to devise a ''retrogradatio cruciata''-type dodecazain
pattern which has all the virtues of the sestina. In the "Complaint of Lisa"
Swinburne employs six rhyming pairs of end-words across 12 dodecazains;
reusing them, however, whenever it was convenient, and thus departing from
the ''retrogradatio cruciata'' pattern. A sestina-purist approach to
producing a 12 dodecazain "double sestina" might be to work within whatever
is thrown up by the ''retrogradatio cruciata'' pattern.
==See also==
* [[How to write a sestina]]
==External links==
*
"[http://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2011/06/sestina-of-memories-je-ball.html
A Sestina of Memories] ," by J.E. Ball.
* "[http://www.nolanchart.com/article5729_Sestina_Gardeners_of_Eden.html
Gardeners of Eden]," by George Dance.
* [http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page9.html
Forms of Verse-Sestina]
* [http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5792 Poetic Form: Sestina] at
Poets.org
* [http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/CraftOfPoetry/sestina.html Craft of
Poetry--Sestina]
* [http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/arnaut_daniel/arnaut_daniel_09.php The
first sestina, in Provençal and English]
* [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/sestinas/ Dozens of sestinas submitted to
McSweeney's]
* [http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/sestina.htm Guide to Verse Forms -
Sestina]
* [http://poetry.poetryx.com/genre/11/ Sestinas] and
[http://poetry.poetryx.com/genre/26/ double sestinas] at Poetry X
* [http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/sestina.htm Poetry forms- The
Sestina]
* [http://www.math.pacificu.edu/~emmons/dox/S_estina.pdf - S|{e,s,t,i,n,a}|,
a math poem]
* [http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/schimel4.shtml Poetic License: Some
Thoughts on Sestinas]