Toddaid: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the toddaid, a Welsh poetic form.
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the toddaid, a Welsh poetic form.
Toddaid Poems
The toddaid is a Welsh poetic form comprised of quatrains (or four-line stanzas).
Here are the simplest guidelines:
- Comprised of quatrains (or four-line stanzas).
- Lines one and three have 10 syllables; lines two and four have nine syllables.
- Lines two and four end rhyme.
- A syllable near the end of line one rhymes with a syllable in the middle of line two.
- A syllable near the end of line three rhymes with a syllable in the middle of line four.
Note on length: Toddaid can be as concise as one stanza (like my example below) or run on for multiple stanzas.
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Here’s my attempt at a toddaid:
Nocturne, by Robert Lee Brewer
When the winter breaks into confusion,
you can fuse a fast and simple rhyme
to an image of silent snow and moon
illuminating shadows sublime.
