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Englyn Penfyr Rhythm and Metre workshop

Your challenge members of the workshop and anyone else is write one of these post here and click the workshop box at the bottom to find the workshop label.
Let's look at one of my favourite forms
ENGLYN PENFYR

Let's kick things off with something new for most of you, I'm sure. This is one of the least well-known poetry forms--an old Welsh form called the ENGLYN PENFYR. It is syllabic and rhymed in nature, as opposed to metered, but the use of internal crossover rhymes lends it a very rhythmic quality.

The poem is comprised of three line stanzas, and each line has a rhyming word in the seventh position. A three syllable caesura is added to line #1, which cross-rhymes with the first three syllables of line #2.

This short form appears simple, but can be quite challenging to craft cleanly, making it all the more pleasing when it finally fits together.

Castle magic - Englyn Penfyr

I Castle magic - Englyn Penfyr
I con/jure/ it /with/ mag/ic,- Cas/tle/ fair
Just/ stare /It /floats /pel/ag/ic,
My/ crea/tion/ huge /but/ tra/gic.

Fly/ing /in/ the/ air/ so/ near, - see /carr/ion
A/ clar/ion/ call/ for /all/ fear,
Dark/ness /not/ my /plan /be/ clear.

I/ have/ mis/cal/cul/at/ed, - mag/ic /dark
Foul/ness /spark/, my /spell/ fat/ed,
Mo/ral/i/ty vac/at/ed.

I/ call /on/ my/ last /re/serve, - cast /a /spell
Liv/ing/ hell/ our /lifes /con/serve,
If /dark/ness/ push/es/ lights /curve.

I/ shaped/ this/ foul /con/struc/tion, - Cast/le dread
So /mis/led,/ by /cor/rupt/ion,
I /must /des/troy ass/ump/tion
Samantha Beardon.

Style / type: 
Structured: Western
Editing stage: 

Comments

I love the old Welsh forms but great to see a Cornish one with a similar set up its interesting to see and hear the cadance from a rhymed syllabic form. So look forward to it.

author comment

if i get one stanza i will be lucky. this is not my cup of tea but i will try

other than what you mentioned, is it correct there are no specific syllable counts? i have been trying to get seven syllables in second and third lines, from what i jotted down but i notice in yours some lines have different counts

7 per line Cathy plus the 3 syllable envoi on the first line.

author comment

nevermind my last long comment. i thought i had to get the accent on the seventh syllable. i just reread your instructions.

want to be sure. is this where you want our poem posted

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