Category Archives: verse
A(nother) triolet
From the beginning To the end Blind fate sits spinning. From the beginning, Silently grinning, Foe and friend, From the beginning To the end.
These are the margins. A (possible) pantoum.
I’ve not tried a pantoum before. It’s another form where lines are repeated, changing their places – and their meaning too, if the versifier is clever enough – between stanzas. There seems to be some freedom with the structure of … Continue reading
A couple of triolets
Back to verse after a run of prose. The prompt for this pair of triolets was a line in a previous post (…what had been left behind was lovely). What is left behind is lovely Though the moments slip away Though sunset … Continue reading
Villanelle V: The villa of Livia
I was in Rome last week. Of all the sights and sites I saw the most impressive were wall paintings from a villa owned by Livia*, the wife of Augustus. They’re now in the National Roman Museum – Palazzo Massimo … Continue reading
Variations on a theme
This evening, as an exercise, I tried to write essentially the same poem in three different forms: One Unweave the rainbow Spread a bright skein of fancy Across a white page Two The page is white, The pen at hand: Let … Continue reading
Fragments
In the absence of any news or thoughts about novel writing, here are a few poems. Most were written quickly for twitter. Triolets A rising tide A fullblown moon In crimson dyed A rising tide Sense override To sleep too … Continue reading
Villanelle IV: The only rose
I set out this evening to write a poem using a prompt from an old favourite (Runrig’s The Only Rose; there’s a story behind why it’s an old favourite but I’m not minded to tell it now). Anyway, the poem went … Continue reading
A trio of triolets
The first two I wrote as twitter poems. I wondered about adding some punctuation but decided in the end I preferred them without. There is no prize for identifying the subject of three. One Open the door The fire burns bright Excrucior Open … Continue reading
Villanelle III: A rose, a king, an apple tree
I’m supposed to be editing a novel but I’m easily distracted from this task. This evening I started playing around with one of the songs from After the Ruin and ended up turning it into a villanelle. Why? Well, why not? Even though it’s of no … Continue reading
‘Folk song’ in fantasy (Another post on world-building)
It’s no secret that After the Ruin was largely inspired by folk songs and that the book is a conscious response to many of the themes and motifs found in the Child Ballads. I’ve written about such things here so I won’t … Continue reading
Folksong and Fantasy 