For this Meeting the Bar we continue with the dizain poetry form. The dizain is a poem of ten lines with ten syllables per line and a rhyme pattern ababbccdcd.

The variation in the rhyme pattern splits the poem into two parts with different rhymes connecting the five lines in each part. This required variation in sound provides an opportunity to shift the thought much as the volta does in a sonnet. The Petrarchan sonnet has a turn or volta after the eighth line when the rhyme pattern changes for the final six lines. The Shakespearean sonnet turns after the twelfth line leaving a final couplet to complete the poem. For the dizain this turn occurs after the fifth line.

One can optionally add other sound techniques such as meter, repetition and alliteration. One can use internal rhyme when the rhyme sound is not only repeated at the end as expected but also unexpectedly within the line. All of these can help break the reader’s expectation of what sounds will be heard once the reader recognizes the rhyme pattern.

The most important part of a poem is not the sound or the form, but the content, the message the poet is trying to convey. The dizain has only one hundred syllables. This brevity encourages the poet to use each word with care making sure it is saying what the poet intends to say.

As part of the Poetry Form this month the Mister Linky below is the same as the one Rosemary Nissen-Wade used. There are already many examples of this poetry form linked there. Check them out to see how others have approached the challenge. If you have already written a dizain for this challenge, here is an opportunity to write another.

To participate write a dizain poem and post it on your blog. Copy the link to your blog post and paste it in the Mister Linky. Read what others have linked and see how they have met the challenge.