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Clogyrnach: Poetic Forms

Learn how to write a clogyrnach, a six-line Welsh form, including guidelines for the form and an example poem.

With the November PAD Chapbook Challenge just around the corner, I'm trying to cover a few more poetic forms than usual, including today's offering: Clogyrnach!

Clogyrnach Poems

Besides being another fun form to say (like rimas dissolutas), clogyrnach is also a fun poem to write. This Welsh poetic form is typically a six-line syllabic stanza with an ab rhyme scheme:

Line 1: 8 syllables with an a rhyme
Line 2: 8 syllables with an a rhyme
Line 3: 5 syllables with a b rhyme
Line 4: 5 syllables with a b rhyme
Line 5: 3 syllables with a b rhyme
Line 6: 3 syllables with an a rhyme

Note: There's also a variant that combines lines 5 and 6 into one line--making a 5-line stanza (see my example below).

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The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms

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).

Click to continue.

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Here’s my attempt at Clogyrnach:

Leading a Horse to Water, by Robert Lee Brewer

When I was a horse, I saw light
reflect off the water at night--
the moon a bright rock
measured as a mock
up of clocks counting sights

I hoped that someday I would see,
though adventure eluded me
in my prison cell
echoing my yell
as I fell heavenly

into dark and dreamy attics
filled with jockeys in their spandex
and little black whips
with feverish grips
that will quip ecstatic!

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