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Cywydd Deuair Hirion: Poetic Forms

Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the cywydd deuair hirion, which is a Welsh couplet form.

The cywydd deuair hirion is a Welsh poetic form with the following guidelines:

  • Couplet (or two-line) poem or stanzas.
  • Seven syllables per line.
  • AA rhyme scheme in which one syllable is stressed, the other unstressed (order doesn't matter).

Note on couplet forms: It is not irregular for couplet forms to combine the couplets into even-numbered stanzas. So if you want to combine into quatrains (or four-line stanzas) or some other length, that's fine. But retain the seven syllables and stressed/unstressed rhyme scheme.

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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 an cywydd deuair hirion:

Avec Toi, by Robert Lee Brewer

It's all I ever wanted
to be stuck inside my head

considering the best thing
to say at our own wedding

before family and friends
from beginning to the end.

Then you ask me, "Voulez-vous?"
and I say, "Only with you."

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