by Cassandra Latisse

Created on: October 26, 2009

Where are our own happy endings?
In the twilight.
Take me from this world, so sightless
Nightlight, alight!

That's the essence of pretending
Unhappy plight.
The foes are sad, the friends bright and
Might fiction fight?

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This poem's form is called the sneadhbhairdne (sna-vuy-erd-ne), a syllabic Irish quatrain* stanza form, alternates octasyllabic and tetrasyllabic lines, both ending in disyllabic words. Lines two and four rhyme; linethree consonants with both,. Every stressed word in the fourth line must rhyme,and there is alliteration as in rionnairdtri-nard*. The poem circles back to the first syllable, word, or linewith which it began., as in all the Irish forms (xa)(xb)(bc) [bb(xb)]

Lines syllables and rhymes

xxxxxx(xa) xx(xb) xxxxxx(bc) bb(xb)

* quatrain - fourline stanza

* rionnairdtri-nard (run-ard tree-nard) is an Irish quatrain stanza of hex syllabic linesending in disyllables.

I wrote it for a contest and had a very hard time with the form, so bear with me!

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