#ballad meter

[abalidoth]

Lament of an HS-339 "Shrike"-class Heavy Cargo Transport

My captain speaks electric words

And into flight I leap

The times between her visits here

I drift, bereft, asleep.

I waltz between the asteroids

And heed her beck and call

Though all my crew live in my heart

She’s dearest of them all.

How can I speak what’s in my soul?

My silicon exposed?

For I am but a diamond hull

And all I have is prose.

I rattle off telemetry

And seal it with a kiss

Will she see behind my words?

Or must I stay like this?

Somewhere out here among the stars

My dreams will manifest

She'll tell me that she loves me too

A union stellar-blessed.

O Captain dear, I hear you now

My screens, they greet you bright

My engines leave an ozone trail

A highway into night.

[i-scan-your-poems]

Hi, could you do The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? It was my late grandma's favorite poem, and my first introduction to poetry as a child.

Wonderful suggestion!

– ◡ / ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ – Under / a sprea/ding chest/nut-tree ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ –     ⁠The vil/lage smi/thy stands; ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ – The smith, / a migh/ty man / is he, ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ ◡ –     With large / and si/newy hands; ◡ ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ – And the mus/cles of / his braw/ny arms ◡ – / ◡ – / ◡ –     Are strong / as i/ron bands.

Metrical form: each stanza is 3 couplets of tetrameter + trimeter, mostly iambic but with some anapests. This kind of couplet is sometimes called ballad meter, or a looser form of common hymn meter. But it feels pretty different with 3 couplets per stanza! There are also some line-initial trochaic inversions, like in line 1.

Rhyme scheme: ABABCB

Other notes: A friend of mine who is an excellent science writer and video content creator recently wrote a blog post about and in ballad meter. The blog doesn't need my promotion but you guys should read it! And my friend's other stuff!

[rudysassafras]

Odds and Amends

Of all of the funerals I’ve ever attended

Not one held foreshadow of parting

And all of the friendships I’ve ever amended

Not one felt the need for restarting

For God plays a role in the matters of kismet

The dice are all loaded with swiftness

The cards are all stacked in the favor of bad debt

To bind us all unto forgiveness

—rudysassafras

[horrifyingsludge]

i could not stop for death he stopped for me we carried ourselves and immortality

electrode diglett nidoran mankey

[joankeatinglives-blog]

Greetings to @wordswilling

Dear wordswilling, there is a point About which I would ask If you would give permission; It's A question, not a task.

The query that I have in mind Is how to say your name "Words Willing" varies from "Word-Swilling" They're SO just not the same.

However, they still could apply To just a single reader; For instance, I find words are willing To fit Ballad Meter,

But also when I wallow, glad, In muddy paragraphs, I engage in word-swilling till My friend just points and laughs.

It may not be a major point, And yet it piques my int'rest. And warms my heart when torrents blow And weather's at the wint'rest.

Oh, by the way, I thank you much For following my blog. I hope you find it fun to read And like all posts, whole hog.

Joan Keating

December 9, 2014

[tmohzone-blog]

did you know that "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" is in ballad meter?

I just remembered that and it still entertains me so much

[raining-cats-and-doggerel]

Versification of a comic by mollyalicehoy.

If people think that you're a jerk but you don't understand, these simple rules of ettiquette will lend a helping hand.

Don't tell your friends that you will pray that they will see the light. In fact, don't tell them anything you do in bed at night.

Although you think your friends are wrong to be so unlike you, it would be rude to outlaw all the private things they do.

And if one of your so-called friends should dare to disagree, just take a breath and say these words: "STOP PERSECUTING ME!"

[thesearchforbluejello]

You can't stop the ballad meter...

Today in my introduction to poetry class, we talked about ballad meter. For anyone who doesn't know, it's arranged in alternating trimeter (three syllables if you're looking at the poem syllabically) and tetrameter (four syllables, still only if you're looking at the poem syllabically and not accentually); it can be arranged in any combination (4,3,4,3; 4,4,3,3; 4,4,4,3; 3,3,3,4; etc). He asked for examples and the room lapsed into an awkward silence. 

I'm just sitting there in the silence and finally say, "So, I don't know if anyone has ever seen Firefly... but the theme song is called 'Ballad of Serenity'... it's in ballad meter." (I then had to recite half of the theme from memory even though I haven't seen the show in probably over a year)

Because... it really is!

"Take my love/ Take my land/ Take me where/ I cannot stand" is three syllables, then four...

"I don't care/ I'm still free/ Since I found/ Serenity" follows the same pattern.

I credited myself with major nerd points for that one.