The Cellar - View Single Post

Juniper · 10-06-2008, 07:57 PM

I'm currently writing an essay on "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop.

In the process, I'm learning a lot about this very cool poetry form. If you like structured poetry like haikus, limericks, sonnets, etc. you might have fun writing a sestina.

It's new to me so forgive me if I'm telling you something that EVERYBODY knew except me, the lunkhead.

So you take six words related to a theme, and stick them at the end of each line. A sestina is 6 stanzas of 6 lines each, and the end words get scrambled according to a pattern, followed by a tercet at the end that includes all six words, one buried in the middle, one at the end...gosh, this is complicated. Here's the poem I'm writing about:

Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop

September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light, the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.

She thinks that her equinoctial tears
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house
were both foretold by the almanac,
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove.
She cuts some bread and says to the child,

It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove,
the way the rain must dance on the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac

on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.

It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.

But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.

Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house.

The end words are repeated like this:
ABCDEF
FAEBDC
CFDABE
ECBFAD
DEACFB
BDFECA

You take the last three letters, say, DEF, flip them around FED, put the F first, then the first letter of the other set of three, A, second letter of the flipped-around last three, E, second letter of the first set, B, third letter of the last three, D, third letter of the first set, C...etc.

So now go here and use this nifty end-word generator so you won't have to think that hard:
http://dilute.net/sestinas/

And write one. I'm going to try it later, perhaps after consuming some adult beverages.

10-06-2008, 07:57 PM	#1
Juniper I know, right? Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1,539	Sestina Challenge I'm currently writing an essay on "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop. In the process, I'm learning a lot about this very cool poetry form. If you like structured poetry like haikus, limericks, sonnets, etc. you might have fun writing a sestina. It's new to me so forgive me if I'm telling you something that EVERYBODY knew except me, the lunkhead. So you take six words related to a theme, and stick them at the end of each line. A sestina is 6 stanzas of 6 lines each, and the end words get scrambled according to a pattern, followed by a tercet at the end that includes all six words, one buried in the middle, one at the end...gosh, this is complicated. Here's the poem I'm writing about: Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop September rain falls on the house. In the failing light, the old grandmother sits in the kitchen with the child beside the Little Marvel Stove, reading the jokes from the almanac, laughing and talking to hide her tears. She thinks that her equinoctial tears and the rain that beats on the roof of the house were both foretold by the almanac, but only known to a grandmother. The iron kettle sings on the stove. She cuts some bread and says to the child, It's time for tea now; but the child is watching the teakettle's small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove, the way the rain must dance on the house. Tidying up, the old grandmother hangs up the clever almanac on its string. Birdlike, the almanac hovers half open above the child, hovers above the old grandmother and her teacup full of dark brown tears. She shivers and says she thinks the house feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove. It was to be, says the Marvel Stove. I know what I know, says the almanac. With crayons the child draws a rigid house and a winding pathway. Then the child puts in a man with buttons like tears and shows it proudly to the grandmother. But secretly, while the grandmother busies herself about the stove, the little moons fall down like tears from between the pages of the almanac into the flower bed the child has carefully placed in the front of the house. Time to plant tears, says the almanac. The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove and the child draws another inscrutable house. The end words are repeated like this: ABCDEF FAEBDC CFDABE ECBFAD DEACFB BDFECA You take the last three letters, say, DEF, flip them around FED, put the F first, then the first letter of the other set of three, A, second letter of the flipped-around last three, E, second letter of the first set, B, third letter of the last three, D, third letter of the first set, C...etc. So now go here and use this nifty end-word generator so you won't have to think that hard: http://dilute.net/sestinas/ And write one. I'm going to try it later, perhaps after consuming some adult beverages.