Tuesday, November 05, 2013

ABC Wednesday

The letter is the quirky Q,  and the subject is Quatrain

A Quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.

It appears in poems of ancient civilizations and continues into the 21st century

During Europe's Dark Ages, in the Middle East and especially Iran, poets such as Omar Khayam continued to popularize this form of poetry, also known as Ruba'i.  There are twelve possible rhyme schemes, but the most traditional and common are AAAA, AABB and ABAB.

From the Rubaiyat

Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter - and the Bird is on the Wing.

or Gray's Elegy

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

And then there is Christopher Marlowe's 'Passionate Shepherd to His love', and Sir Walter Raleigh's Reply....



 
John Donne got into the act too, copying shamelessly, but beautifully, from Marlowe's Passionate Shepherd
 
 
And you can too!!  It may not have the elegance of Donne and Marlow or Omar Khayam, but
 
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are You.
 
Visit here to find out more about Q, with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt, Roger Green
and all their quaint and qualified helpers.
 

12 comments:

mrsnesbitt said...

Gray's elergy - studied it at school many many years ago. Coul have told you lots about it -THEN - NOW HOWEVER, I HAVEN'T A CLUE!
Denise - hopeless case! ABC Team

photowannabe said...

Fascinating post today Hildred.
I'm with Denise, though.Things I learned way back in the "Dark Ages" have slowly disappeared from memory.
I do like poetry and enjoyed the clips you posted.

Carver said...

What a great Q word and an interesting post. Carver, ABC Wed. Team

Indrani said...

A new word for me.
Learning experience for me. Great post.

Leslie: said...

Love Love Love Grey's Elegy

Leslie
abcw team

Roger Owen Green said...

GREAT choice for Q! And great poems.
ROG, ABCW

Reader Wil said...

What a treat! Three beautiful poems read out loud!
Thank you for the beautiful post, Hildred!
Wil, ABCW Team

ChrisJ said...

Oh my favorite post! It brought a smile to my face. The Marlowe poem was exceptional.I have to find out who was reciting it. Gray's Elegy is another one of my favorites. Have to go back and listen to it too. John Donne was such a sober poet. Though he wrote about many important things, I have to say he is not my most favorite poet. Thank you for this post, Hildred.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

You are so knowledgeable and so good about sharing what you know in a fun way. I did know some of those poems (besides the last one ;>)....but I didn't know really what they were..

The Weaver of Grass said...

Grey's Elegy was one of my father's favourite poems - he knew it by heart Hildred.

betty-NZ said...

This is a great post for Q! Lots of wonderful poems to read.

K V V S MURTHY said...

Beautiful poetry..!