Hello, dVerse Poets! This is Merril from Yesterday and Today welcoming you to Meeting the Bar (MTB) where we explore a poetic form or technique. Today, I’d like to introduce you to the Triversen, a form invented by the American poet and physician William Carlos Williams. Along with H.D. Williams and Ezra Pound, he was considered one of the leaders of the Imagist movement. He believed the Triversen was a truly modern American form.

There seems to be a considerable difference in what constitutes a Triversen (“triple verse sentence”). I’ve tried to simplify it here.

Here are the basic rules:

*Three-line stanzas (Tercets). Each tercet is a sentence.

• The tercets are grammatical, and they are broken by breaths,
  the accents and rhythms of normal speech—two to four beats per line.
  *Unrhymed

The ideal length is 18 lines or 6 stanzas, but even Williams did not always follow that rule.
Ideally, each line is two to four beats, or stressed syllable (not total syllables). Williams disliked iambic pentameter, but others have written Triversen poems with more beats.

Here are some additional points that are often mentioned.

*Alliteration—it contributes to the stress syllables
*Imagist

Here is the most often cited example of a Triversen by William Carlos Williams, “On Gay Wallpaper.” Gay did not have the same connotations as it does today. 😉

So, for today’s challenge, write a Triversen poem, following the rules above–at least make your poem unrhymed tercets with each stanza making a sentence. It can be on any subject. But I know sometimes it’s easier with some sort of theme. One suggestion might be to look around wherever you are and write about something in the room (as in Williams’ wallpaper), or write a poem about the view from your window.

Here is an ekphrastic option, as well. Last month, we saw a wonderful exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art called Mary Cassatt at Work. If you’re in the area, it’s there till September 8. We’re members, and we went during a special members’ hour. This painting was the first one in the exhibition (not my photo). Cassatt did many paintings of women at the theater or busy with activities.

When you’ve written your Triversen, enter the link in Mister Linky below. Read and comment on others. I can’t wait to read what you’ve written!