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dversepoets, form poetry, FormForAll, Gay Cannon, Huitain, poems, poetic form, poetry prompt, Rhyme
Hello Everyone. This is Gay Cannon and today I’m pleased to present Gemma Wiseman who is instructing us in the Huitain Form. It’s an attractive form and I’m happy to introduce her article to you:
There are those who claim that the huitain is French in origin, and others who are adamant it has Spanish origins. Either way, it was popular in the 15th and early 16th centuries and was often used for epigrams in the 18th century. The form evolves around the number eight.
In France, the huitain was closely associated with the ballade which comprised three eight line stanzas, with the last line being a refrain. The ballade was set to music during the 13th-15th centuries. But the huitain dismissed the refrain element and the music.
French poets who practised the huitain included François Villon in his Lais (Legacy – 40stanzas) 1456 and Testament 1461. Both these poems are pseudo wills from a poet whose life was marked by crime and debauchery. (His biography makes fascinating reading! See HERE!) Clément Marot also became famous for his huitains.
History suggests that Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1386-1400) introduced the ballade form to English pens. He used it in his Monk’s Tale. Chaucer created the first known English huitain and his particular version became known as the Monk’s Tale Stanza.
Here is an excerpt from The Monk’s Tale:
LUCIFER
With Lucifer, though he was angel fair
And not a man, with him will I begin;
For though Fortune may not an angel dare,
From high degree yet fell he for his sin
Down into Hell, and he lies yet therein.
O Lucifer, brightest of angels all,
Now art thou Satan, and thou may’st not win
From misery wherein thou far did’st fall!
ADAM
Lo, Adam, in the garden Damascene,
By God Almighty’s finger wrought was he,
And not begotten of man’s sperm unclean;
He ruled all Paradise, except one tree.
Had never earthly man so high degree
As Adam, till he, for misgovernance,
Was driven from his high prosperity
To labour, and to Hell, and to mischance.
Some poets extended the single stanza into several stanzas with eight lines and eight syllables. Then evolved the concept of collaborative poetry, where different poets contributed 8 line stanzas.
But some writers appeared to rebel . One was 15th century Scottish poet William Dunbar, like a Poet Laureate to the court of James IV of Scotland. He wrote 8 stanzas with the last line repeating at the end of each stanza. Here is one:
Above all rivers thy river hath renowne,
Whose beryl streames, pleasant and preclare,
Under thy lusty walles runneth down;
Where many a swanne doth swimme with winges fair,
Where many a barge doth sail, and row with oar,
Where many a ship doth rest with top-royal.
O town of townes, patron and not compare,
London, thou art the flower of Cities all.
(Strange how this poem from a “high level” Scottish poet praises England’s capital at a time when English-Scottish relationships were not yet connected as British! He was also a satirist! Hmmmm…)
The original huitain is a single verse, eight line poem with eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is:
a
b
a
b
b
c
b
c
When it was recycled in English, the same rhyme scheme was retained but 10 or 8 syllables were used per line. There was no alternation between the syllable count. The huitain was all 10 or all 8 syllables.
The subject of the huitain seems to be a little elusive. Most huitains seem to focus on a single subject, exploring its perspectives with a tendency to elevate it in some way.
Here is a modern huitain:
Gloria In Humiliatas by Kevin McKinney
Who drew this neon star so well
Defined and in such brilliant hues;
Vibrating clear as morning’s bell
Announcing procreation’s news?
Unlike the chime whose peal we lose,
This badge preserved in acetate
Will yet adorn long as we choose
To make its season hesitate.
Strange how we pull back the throttle
Portraying life in one flower’s
Moment captured in a bottle;
As we try with all our powers
To keep it beyond its hours;
A proper sign of reverence
That we tend these ageless bowers
In tribute to impermanence.
My own huitain, A Monk’s Tale, I penned a short time ago. It reflects on a monk’s place in the 21st century.
So, here’s what to do:
- Write your Huitain poem
- Then post it on your blog
- Click Mr. Linky below, and in the new window (Blenza) that opens up input your name and direct url of the poem (not just your blog address – tap the title and you will have it in your address bar). Copy & paste to Mr. Linky.
- Visit other poets who have written and linked too.
Mary said:
Well I rhymed lines, but didn’t follow the rhyme scheme. Got the number of lines and the number of syllables right though! I will have to try another one later with the CORRECT rhyme scheme. Sigh.
claudia said:
smiles… play time…i’m all for shifting things around…smiles
claudia said:
nice…great article…thanks so much Gemma for introducing us to the form.. quite interesting history and examples… love to learn about that old poets…way to go…happy FormFor all everyone
Laurie Kolp said:
Nice! We just did this form at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.
claudia said:
nice..enjoyed your huitain laurie…happy birthday to hubs..
tashtoo said:
Gay…we are celebrating the life of my grandmother, who passed away last week, with a gathering (she’d shoot us all, I swear!) so I’ll not be able to take part…there’s always tomorrow, right? Thanks again for sharing a wonderful poet and a wonderful form with us today. Gemma, thank you so much for joining us…I am so sorry I’ll not be able to play but the pen has stalled terribly (as evidenced in my OLN offering…that was brutal enough!) Poet Love to all!
claudia said:
sorry about your grandmother tash but cool on the celebration gathering.. poet love to you as well
Susan L Daniels said:
Tash, sorry for your loss.
brian miller said:
i am sorry tash….best to the fam…and to your pen…hope you rekindle many fond memories at the celebration…
Gay said:
My deepest condolences Natasha – my thoughts & prayers are with you. We always miss you when you can’t be here, but this is not time to concern yourself with anything but family. We will all be here waiting when you can return!
Daydreamertoo said:
Had to go back and change mine a bit. Like Mary, I got the 8 lines and syllables but not sure about the rhyme. LOL I tried!
Interesting prompt.
claudia said:
loved that you helped that weaker crow… the world needs brave people that don’t look away when others are getting attacked…see…i took it all metaphorical…smiles
Susan L Daniels said:
This was so much fun, guys! Great form.
claudia said:
ha i could tell you had fun writing yours..smiles
Susan L Daniels said:
🙂
claudia said:
on my way to bed as i have to get up really, really early tomorrow… will read the overnights with my breakfast tomorrow though… have fun!!
Gay said:
Just now back from my luncheon engagement and ready to rock & roll. Hope you all enjoyed the form and are playing with it. I got musical…but went a different direction than I’d planned. I, too, got confused with the rhyme scheme Mary. I thought it was abaabcb…for some reason…must get my prescription glasses checked. Anyway double checked and changed it in time. So hope to see you guys on the trail!
brian miller said:
hey everyone..just got off work….yeah i took the job and this is going to take some getting used to…working regular hours…ha….great article gemma…gave it a spin with my own little flair….used an online syllable counter that really helped me…
John (@bookdreamer) said:
Whoopie-whoop
brian miller said:
exactly…thank you sir….now i need to go find me some fruit…smiles…
John (@bookdreamer) said:
🙂
John (@bookdreamer) said:
Thanks Gemma and Gay. Fun form. Mines, ahem about food…
Emily said:
Thank you, Gay & Gemma, for the introduction to this form. I have the hardest time with structure and rhyme. I always feel so contrived. Still, it feels good to stretch this way. Or….well…it’s almost the opposite of stretching isn’t it? So perhaps I should say it feels good to pump these mental muscles a bit. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done with this!
brian miller said:
you did really well emily…loved the dance in yours…and great closure…
Heaven (@asweetlust) said:
I recently wrote one for Real Toads but I won’t link it as most of you read it already. I don’t know if I have time to write another one but just wanted to drop by and thank you for the interesting form. Happy day everyone ~
Victoria C. Slotto said:
Such a fun form. I hope I can give it a whirl. Thanks for the challenge.
brian miller said:
i hope you do…smiles…
Beth Winter said:
Hi all,
I’m sharing a Huitain that I wrote in collaboration with my good friend and poet, Rob Fletcher. He doesn’t blog but will follow comments from mine. (Rob and I are working on the Raven Series together.)
Thanks for the awesome article, Gemma. Love the form.
brian miller said:
that is really cool you wrote it together….and for such a tight form as well…not much room to move…well done….
Sheila said:
fun, thanks Gay!
Bodhirose said:
Thanks to Gay and Gemma for the introduction to a new form!
hypercryptical said:
Yippee! Writers block gone!
Thanks to all at dVerse!
Anna :o]
brian miller said:
nice….smiles….
Gay said:
Beautifully written – it’s wonderful when someone breaks you out of the doldrums – thanks to Gemma, none to me!!
Susan said:
Look at the bottom of the page! That’s where I put it, as I tried to form up something that already mattered to me. Do here is Dream Catcher 2.
Gay said:
Susan both of yours were stellar! I encourage everyone to read them. Everyone has written brilliant huitains today. This is clearly a form to tuck in our back pocket – from cats to back alleys – from dreams to dreamers, from music to politics – it’s all here and it’s all GOOD!
Semaphore / Samuel Peralta said:
Thanks, Gemma and Gay, for this really fascinating look at huitains! Not sure if I can squeeze out anything in the time, but I’ll definitely enjoy some verses from friends.
Cressida de Nova said:
Thank you Gay and Gemma for this very interesting prompt. Enjoyed doing this…very addictive.
claudia said:
good morning…out on the trail for a bit before i’m off to work…
Gay said:
Lots of good ones today Claudia – hope it’s lovely where you are. The heat let up a little here in Texas. But I’m sure we’re in for more.
ManicDdaily said:
Very cool article and interesting form. My brain a bit slow today–which became my subject – but I may not have risen even to that subject. Agh! Thanks much for the challenge though. I enjoyed nonetheless. k.
flipside records said:
Sorry I’m just getting here. I may be able to pull this off, since it’s short-ish. 🙂 We’ll see. Thanks, Gay!
Gemma Wiseman said:
I must thank you all so much for the great response to this form! I’m ecstatic! Now I have to write another one! It’ll happen this weekend! And I’ll try to visit you all too!
hobgoblin2011 said:
Really interesting form. Really fun using it, and what I’ve read so far is all very good, looking forward to reading the rest tomorrow. Thanks Gay, and Gemma.
Sherry Blue Sky said:
Great article, Gemma, and so nice to see you writing at dVerse! Way to go.
Gemma Wiseman said:
Aaah Sherry! Such a wonderful supporter! And it’s thanks to your first interview that more people found my poetry!
hedgewitch said:
Phew–barely made it under the wire–this took more time than I had yesterday, so did it today. LTTP once again. I’ll be around as I can to read and enjoy–thanks Gay and Gemma for this one, a form I like very much.
Serena said:
Thank you for this article and for the challenge. I enjoyed it and learned much from it. This site is like the best class ever! 🙂