Friendship

A train that runs impromptu; back and forth.

It holds surprises; sometimes worth a shout.

I stay behind and watch it wander north,

Or east, or south, or west; without a doubt,

I wait for its return. I wait and wait

Until the train brings home another friend.

From days to years, a friendship built so great

Was torn by blares of trains that marked the end.

Again, I wave goodbye to what was once

A flash of happiness within my reach.

The next from Canada, or Spain, or France,

Or simply separated by a beach;

My train will journey even on the sea,

To find a friend who’ll stay just steps from me.

Task 4

So many of you have either cracked this now, or, if you haven't then you have ALMOST done so.

I am REALLY very impressed. Best of all, some of you are managing to do so without sacrificing the power of your poetry itself. And those of you who are struggling simply need to keep practising in addition to what you're doing on the blog, and come and see me if you need any extra help.

This is the real challenge: a synthesis of CONTENT (choice of language and what it is about) and FORM (rhyme, rhythm etc.). In fact, you can look at it mathematically:

powerful CONTENT + disciplined FORM = effective POETRY

Now for this week's task - and it's a DIFFICULT one.

These are the rules of the English (or Shakespearean) SONNET:

• It must be written in IAMBIC PENTAMETER (i.e. x5 dee-DUMs)
• It will be 14 lines long, and consist of x3 quatrains and x1 final couplet
• It will have a strict rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef gg)

You should, by now, be familiar with the rules of IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

As for writing in three quatrains, well you have all written ONE quatrain (4-line poem), so it is just a question of writing three different ones of these, which link together in subject matter to form ONE poem - a poem which is concluded by a couplet (i.e. two, rhyming lines).

And as for the RHYME scheme, I am sure you will be fine with this.

The challenge is putting all these things TOGETHER! (Click HERE if you want to find out some more tips on the building blocks of sonnets.)

And what should your sonnet be about?

Friendship. This is your topic and your title. Now it is up to you...

Your deadline is midnight on Saturday 13th April.

As an exemplar, I have dug out one I wrote a few years back, in case it is of any help...

Friendship

Inchoate yet invincible, a bond
Beyond and past the purview of my prose;
I have no words, they’ve all been said, no wand
To wave, no spell to keep it safe; it grows
Despite my pestilential clutch; too much
For me to tend, my friend, it perseveres
By virtue of your anodynic touch,
Immune to all that festers in my fears.
While reciprocity eludes me yet,
I will requite the comfort you bestow;
Find something to repay this ample debt.
How can I pay you back? I do not know –
I cannot comprehend – but I intend
To merit and deserve to be your friend.

Ringmaster

Many People say I am often shy
But hear my roar and retreat inside
Best describe me the owl that's patient
My passionate soul ill never hide

MAny PEOple say I am OFten SHY
BUT hear MY roar AND reTREAT inSIDE
BEST  desCRIBE me THE owl THAT paTIENT
MY paSSIONate SOUL ill NEver HIDE

Allspark

Me? At school I often go insane.
Friends are like my constant remedy:
Always there when I need to explain
Fears and my curiosity.

ME? at SCHOOL i OFten GO inSANE
FRIENDS are LIKE my CONstant REmeDY
ALways THERE when I need TO exPLAIN
ANger AND my CUriOsiTY.

Narcissus T

I am a girl, who is not too loud

Surrounded by books, and cats, and cars,

As the only child, I am so proud

To be one of the eighteen bright stars.

I am A girl, WHO is NOT too LOUD

SURrounDED by BOOKS, and CATS, and CARS,

AS the ONLY child, I am SO proud

TO be ONE of THE eighTEEN bright STARS.

Lemonic T

Just a simple girl and nothing else;

Living life, no factual motive shown.

Books that uniformly fit in shelves,

Paint the dullness; paint it like a clown.

JUST a SIMple GIRL and NOthing ELSE;

LIving LIFE, no FACTual MOtive SHOWN.

BOOKS that UniFORMly FIT in SHELVES,

PAINT the DULLness; PAINT it LIKE a CLOWN.

Task 3: Trochees

All of you have managed iambic meter some of the time.

Some of you have managed iambic meter all of the time.

If you are still stuck, it is really important you go back over all the previous posts. Look again at your attempts; look again at the others; and, most importantly, reread all the comments.

You are all perfectly capable of this; it just takes practice and perseverance. As I keep saying, this is not SUPPOSED to be easy. It is supposed to be fiendishly difficult. But all the more reason to ask you to do it.

When you finally get there, think how satisfied you will feel. And, most of all, think what a skilful mastery of language you will have developed. If you can control language to THIS extent, think how much better ALL your writing will be - whether iambic verse, a persuasive speech, an ordinary essay, or the sonnet I hope we can attempt on this blog soon...

* * * *

And now for this week's task...

Well, in addition to reworking, redrafting and revising your previous attempts, until you master that dreaded IAMB, I am going to set you a slightly different exercise which should achieve TWO things:

1. It will teach you ANOTHER type of foot (i.e. the TROCHEE);
2. and, in doing so, it should also reinforce your understanding of the IAMB.

Or at least that is the plan... :)

So, let me introduce you to the TROCHEE.

Where as the iambic foot goes dee-DUM, the trochaic foot goes DUM-dee. (Some of you have used lots of them already by accident - see Line 4 of 'Man's Best Friend', for example.)

Here are some simple words which directly fit a trochaic rhythm:

• English
• International
• Basketball
• Savage
• Borneo

Look at how they are ALL words we say with the stress on the FIRST syllable (and, if they are more than two syllables, the third syllable too). 

With 'trochaic' verse, the stresses fall on syllables 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 etc. (i.e. the ODD numbers) and so you need to choose and order your words so they fall in the correct place to fit those stresses. And remember that, with monosyllabic (1-syllable) words, you need to use your 'ear' to decide whether they work best stressed or unstressed - which sometimes depends on the context in which they are used.

Here is a line of perfect trochaic pentameter:

People often ask me why I bother.

Let me write it again, with the stresses in capitals:

PEOple OFten ASK me WHY i BOTHer.

See how this fits with the way we say the words anyway, in a way that saying this line IAMBICALLY would not fit, e.g.:

peoPLE ofTEN ask ME why I bothER.

Nobody talks like that!

Now look at this piece of trochaic pentameter:

Monday's never been my favourite day.

What is missing?
The first four feet are perfect trochees:

MONday's NEVer BEEN my FAV'rite...

(because we usually say the word 'favourite' as if it were two syllables and not one).
But look at the last foot:

...day.

It is a stressed syllable, but it lacks the unstressed syllable to make it a complete trochee.

This type of INCOMPLETE foot, often used at the end of a line, is called a catalexis (making it a catalectic foot).

Here's another example of a line of trochaic pentameter ending in a catalectic foot:

English isn't my idea of fun.

Look how the first four syllables are purely trochaic:

ENglish ISn't MY iDEA of...

But, again, the last foot is catalectic, i.e. it has no unstressed syllable:

...FUN.

So, surprise surprise, your task this week is to write:

1. a quatrain (four-line poem)
2. with an abab rhyme scheme (like Task 2)
3. with a trochaic rhythm (i.e. DUM-dee)
4. apart from the final foot in each line, which should be catalectic (i.e. DUM);
5. (leaving it with 9 syllables in total).

AND

6. write the poem AGAIN underneath, but this time with EACH stressed syllable in
CAPITALS, to show how it fits the DUM-dee-DUM-dee-DUM-dee-DUM-dee-DUM
rhythm.

N.B. As with any poetry, it will be even better if you also think about sound (e.g. alliteration, assonance etc.) and image (e.g. metaphor, personification etc.)

And your topic this week? Yourself. 'A poem about me'. In fact, as your title, simply give it the name of your blogger ID...

Here is my attempt:

     Englishguru

     Artifice and anonymity
     Make a mask behind which I can hide.
     Here within my pseudonym, I see
     All. But no one else can see inside.

     ARtiFICE and ANoNYMiTY
     MAKE a MASK beHIND which I can HIDE.
     HERE withIN my PSEUdoNYM, i SEE
     ALL. but NO one ELSE can SEE inSIDE.

Good luck!  And come and speak to one of your teachers if you get impossibly stuck! :)

Please ensure you have submitted your post by MIDNIGHT on Saturday 9th March 2013.