Stanza forms as defined in poems Rattler Alert, The Pardon, Counting the Beats, and All But Blind
The first verse under consideration called Rattler, Alert consists of one septet of an “ababbcc” form and one quatrain in the second half of the verse. Both septet and quatrain refer to iambic pentameter, which is more typical of the first verse form. The entire verse is one long sentence that is broken into eleven syntactical units thus uniting two stanzas into one semantically integrate unit. In whole, the syntactical structure of the verse and its stanza forms do not coincide, as the final line of septet is logically connected with the first line of quatrain. The author does not fully stick to a formal structure of the existed forms. For instance, the first line of septet and quatrain have a different syllabic stresses. Compare the fist line: “Slowly he sways that head that cannot hear…” and the second one: “Of smoother satin than the hillwind’s trust” (Chiselin 15). The former starts with dactyl whereas the latter begins with spondee. In addition, the presented rhyming pairs do not totally coincide.
In the second verse, called The Pardon the verse is divided into six four-line stanzas of an enveloped-rhyme form. Hence, the first line rhymes with the fourth and the second line rhymes with the third one. It should be also stressed that the author applies to the methods of enjambment the second sentence in the end of the first stanza with its continuation at the beginning of the second stanza. The rhythmic pattern of the verse is not fixed. The first two rhymed lines are attached to the iambic pentameter, lines 3 and 4 correspond to anapestic tetrameter. Comparing with other verses, this one correspond a customized structure best of all.
The third pattern revealed in Counting the Beats can be hardly “customized” to the fixed rhythmic forms. It contains a number of stanzas and its main peculiarity consists in the fact that the each sentence is longer than the previous one. The first and the last line comprise identical numbers of dactyls and spondees. The growing length of sentence is applied to enhance the impression and emotional charge. This phenomenon is usually called as assonance. The On the one hand, this pattern resembles an enveloped-rhymed form. On the other hand, one can notice the framing lines conform to the pattern whereas the lines in the middle differ. Interestingly, but the last line of each metric pattern rhymes with each other as if semantically connecting the entire verse. In whole, the actual structure does not correspond to any existed rhythmic form. Nevertheless, the author managed to preserve fixed stanza forms and frames.
Judging upon four-line stanza, the final verse entitled as All But Blind refers to a “xaxa” form, which is commonly called as ballade or ode. It can also be called heroic or elegiac quatrain. All stanzas are semantically and syntactically completed. Lines 2 and 3 have different metric feet and this pattern is repeated in each stanza. The verse is also presented in a specific graphical form where line 2 and line 4 are similarly indented, which distinguishes them from line 1 and line 3. Such a device emphasizes their semantic identity. In addition, the author makes use of an anaphoric frame that enhances the meaning of the first phrases. However, the final phrase is a bit different from other forms. That contributes to a deeper disclosure of the author’s idea.
Stanzas in Terza Rima
Love and Pain
The bittersweet of love I should feel.
When I see you watching me
My dream is narrowed to my zeal
The bittersweet of words I should hear
When catching each sound cried out.
My soul and heart do not belong to me.
The bittersweet of screaming aloud
And contemplating features known by sight
Is pleasure I cannot but once allow.
Villanelle Composed of 19 Lines
Nature and humans
Transient and splendid, the dawn
Like sunlight in the domain of darkness.
Like the whiff of freedom, it has gone.
Soft and gentle, thirty and desired, the wind
Like whisper in the midst of desert
Its endless power is rescinded.
Dazzling light and fury of the sun;
One cannot stand its fiery look,
His hottest temper has also gone.
The lightning, magnificent and terrifying,
It blinds your eyes and conscious
And there is no one who will resist this fighting.
A divine touch and eternity assigned to sky;
I cannot but fall in love with his bottomless blue eyes.
It has submerged and doomed to die.
A human power to destroy is nothing more
Than hatred sown by envy and despair.
Being tempted by the power and deprived of faith
The nature suffers but they do not care.
Reference
Chiselin, Brewster. Rattler, Alert. Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry. US: McGraw-Hill, 2006