Hi everyone!

In today’s session, we are going to learn about head rhyme (or beginning rhyme or inital rhyme) and using this in the Traditional Mongolian Meter.

19th century Mongolian Sutra Manuscript

Source

Traditional Mongolian Meter is thought to date back to Genghis Khan but the first record of this more sophisticated form is the 17th century. It is a little different than most forms in that the lines are head rhymed. Alliteration is a prominent element of the form.

The elements of Traditional Mongolian Meter are:

1. written in any number of quatrains.
2. syllabic, usually 7 to 8 syllables.
3. head rhymed. Technically, head rhyme is just the first consonant of each line matching. However, while still alliterative, with the matched consonant heading the line, it is often seen as the first syllable in each line rhyming with the first syllable of the ensuing lines. Rhyme scheme aaaa bbbb cccc etc. (Remember the rhyme is at the beginning of the line, not the end.)
4. alliterated, although alliteration can occur within a couplet and need not be contained within a single line. If true or near rhyme is not present, alliteration of the first word of each line is a must.

Example of a quatrain:

Fall leaves flutter, sun in my eyes
Fading brown and marmalade hues
Faithful is the sky, wrapped in grey
Farewell summer, I’ll miss your blooms

You can write as many quatrains in a poem, using the same head rhyme for each stanza.

Sources:  Here and here

The writing challenge is to write the traditional Mongolian Meter using the elements as described above.