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This is my playground for poetry written for children with ideas and inspiration for writing your own poems. Come on in. Sit for a spell, have a cup of words to swirl around and make your own cup of poetry. I'm so glad you are here. I hope you'll find the Kingdom of Poetry a fun place to be.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

TRIVERSEN

Happy Poetry Friday


To celebrate National Poetry Month, I thought it might be fun to try some new forms of poetry.  The form explored today is the TRIVERSEN.  The Triversen, an English stanza form, originated with William Carlos Williams. Each stanza, consists of three lines which present a complete clause or thought. A sentence forms the stanza.  No syllable count or meter is required and ideally the poem has six stanzas.
  I found about this form first in my reference book, The Shapes of our Singing by Robin Skelton and then Robert Lee Brewer wrote about it here. And, my Dictionary of Poetic Terms by Jack Myers and Don C. Wukasch has more.  But, basically a Triversen is an American form made popular by William Carlos Williams.  It is:
1. made up of six sentences or stanzas
2. broken into three phrases for each stanza.



   I think that rather than iambics, Williams was arguing that this phrasing better represented American conversations.  Here is my attempt at a Triversen.

SPRING

In springtime
     why are there so many
          rainy showers?

I am stuck indoors
     for hours
          and hours.

When I am ready 
    for heat
         and blazing sun.

The clouds cry
     their tears
          on everyone.

Spring is supposed
    to be about new beginnings
         and baseballs' extra innings.

But I wonder like a carrot
     with roots underground
          can the best be seen.

Your poetry challenge for today is to try writing your own Triversen.  Remember, it usually doesn't rhyme. And, has a variable foot.  Just have fun playing with a new form.

It is always fun to try on new shoes to see if it is a good fit. 
 
     My schedule shows that Laura Purdie Salas is hosting this Friday's Poetry Roundup on her blog Writing the World for Kids.  You can go here, to her blog to find more poetry posts.  Thank you Laura for hosting us this week.

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for highlighting the triversen. I'll have to play with this form!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Holly. April is the best month to try new forms. Go for it.

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  2. This looks like such a fun form to try. I like the way you've worked rhyme into it - and particularly enjoyed 'the clouds cry their tears on everyone'. The first three stanzas built so well towards it. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Hey, rhyme isn't suppose to be a part of the form, it is just my rhyming brain leaps onto the page occasionally. I can't help myself.

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  3. Thanks for sharing your poem, Joy! I'm sitting here in a Caribou Coffee wtching the snow flurries fly, so wondering about spring weather feels just right:>) I have Shapes of Our Singing, too. Such an awesome book for poetic exploring!

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    1. good luck selling your house. Where, what do you plan to move to? I do remember those days. I sure wish I could send you some of our Kauai sunshine. Island living is paradise.

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  4. I love this! I decided to write this and combine it with a Doodle Poem prompt I found on twitter. Such fun, thanks!

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    1. Brenda, I'm glad you found the information useful and inspiring.

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  5. I love that book, too! It's fun trying out different forms, isn't it? Enjoy your poetry project this month. Looks like you are learning lots.

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    1. I enjoy learning new things every day. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.

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  6. Wow, never heard of the triversen. Enjoyed learning about it and reading your poem. Favorite stanza: "The clouds cry their tears on everyone." :)

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    1. Thanks, Jama. I particularly enjoyed considering the carrot. So many things in life have their value and richness hidden from us and we have to dig to find it.

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  7. This is a new form to me! Thanks for introducing it, and for sharing your poem.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Buffy. It is a short form so that makes it especially good for children's poetry.

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  8. I'm collecting quite a list of poetry forms to play around with and will add this one to the mix. Thanks for introducing me to it and for sharing your poem,too!

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    1. Molly, I do hope you try writing a triversen and will share it with me.

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  9. What an interesting form! We're cranky today because those rainy showers froze into SNOW! Ugh.

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    1. Oh, so sorry Mary Lee. You need to come visit me. Island life is great. I finally unpacked the poem you sent to me in one of Tabatha's exchanges. It is on my refrigerator. The magnet holds to this one.

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  10. The rain here in the northeast might not be so bad if it wasn't so cold! Thanks for introducing me to this form. It seems like it will be fun to play with!

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    1. Should I mention it is 75 today. I'm sitting on the lanai working, Do try playing with this form. Maybe I should ask Michelle Hendrick Barnes for us to have a month for Triversen poems.

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