Let us climb these well worn stairs,
Light above and peace throughout.
Heart tells mind, “Don’t worry here.
Love will show us all about.”
Linked to dVerse Open Link Night hosted by Björn.
Photo: “Going Up” by the author. Linked to jasenphoto’s Tuesday Photo Challenge where the prompt is “steps”.
I am also linking this to Jill Lyman’s July Challenge. Consider this an eight line poem of which I’ve written only the first four lines.
I’m exploring medieval lyrics. I think the above might be called “trova romantica” with form and style related to the troubadours. I’m trying to use the Portuguese Redondilha maior meter, a seven syllable line with the last syllable accented, but I might be missing something.
Announcement
The Spring issue (Vol 97, No 2) of The Lyric Magazine, “the oldest magazine in North America devoted to traditional poetry”, arrived in the mail. It contains my poem, “Chutes and Ladders”. I am grateful to the editor, Jean Mellichamp Milliken, for selecting it.
Wonderfully packed! Nicely done!
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Thank you, Charley!
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You are welcome!
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Lovely. Small, but perfect. I like the form, it’s very subtle.
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Thank you! I like them short as well and hopefully lovely.
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The stairs looked invitating to climb ~ Love that last line Frank ~ Congrats on your published poem ~
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Thanks, Grace! I am glad you liked the last line.
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Congratulations on the publication of your poem.
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Thank you! I have wanted to get published there for a few years.
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Great little poem. Well done on getting published in Lyric! 🙂
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Thank, Ronnie! It was a surprise when I found out a month ago. I had to get the issue in hand to believe it.
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Hmmm – must look into the form. Thanks for sharing your peaceful words and photo. Oh, and Congrats!
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Thank you! The form is basically English common meter but that’s a broad description. I don’t have a good feel yet for these “trova” and I suspect common meter is not quite right.
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I was looking at your written lines for the emphasis on the last syllable and struggling to put it together in my head. I need to play with it a bit and read out loud to catch the feel. Love a challenge! Thanks for opening that door.
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We may be pronouncing the words differently. I’ve added an audio to show how I pronounce them. The meter is mostly iambic except for the first syllables of each line, as I would speak them. The first, third, fifth and seventh syllables are accented in my reading, but only the last syllable has to be accented. Others may be or not, if I understand this meter correctly.
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A lovely form and well executed… these short forms are really very effective. And congratulations for the publication.
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Thank you, Björn! I am still trying to distinguish it from common meter. I like short forms in general.
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And this just proves my point that a poem doesn’t have to be long and full of portents, metaphors, and gobbledegook. This form is excellent and I love the message in it.
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Thank you! I am glad you like the form. I am still trying to figure out what a “trova” is, but I don’t think it is longer than four lines.
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Regardless, it is an excellent poem in which you said what you meant.
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Lovely!
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Thank you!
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Congratulations on your publication! Your poem is pretty. I’ll have to look into the form; it’s a new one on me.
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Thanks, Jane! Someone from Brazil mentioned the form to me. There are a lot of songs called “trova romantica” on YouTube and some poems have only four lines like this. It seems related to the medieval troubadours, but I don’t know much about them either.
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I’ll have to see what I can find out about it. Trova is the same origin as the Trouba part of troubadour (and Trovatore) so they must be linked.
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I think they are linked to troubadours. I was given a link to a collection of these four line poems on which I based mine: http://www.juraemprosaeverso.com.br/PoesiasETrovasPopulares/ColecaodetrovaspopII.htm The specific meter is similar to English common meter, but not as general, if I understood it correctly.
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Yes to the pic as well as the poem!
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I am glad you liked the photo with stairs and plants draping down. It is one I walk every day. Thanks!
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Upstairs, one hopes, is the marriage bed, where lust & overheated passion, as the decades peel away, are replaced by slow hands & loving hearts.
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In our case the marriage bed is downstairs but upstairs is where the children had their rooms and I have my office but the slow hands and loving hearts is accurate. Thanks, Glenn!
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So peaceful and overflowing with love. Good for you and good for the published poem!
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Thanks, Nan! It is peaceful and I hope overflowing with love. I am glad to be published in The Lyric Magazine.
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Your poem evokes the peaceful and loving feeling of home. The staircase looks wonderful!
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Thank you! We have these plants that go wild and we let them go with only a little trimming.
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i was delighted to be introduced to this format as short verses are always a lovely way of saying so much with so little, yours is truly one that has steps leading to peace and serenity, where love is the key. Brilliant pairing of of the prompts and form.
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Thank you, Gina! They both came together at the same time. The prompt for the photo and discussions about Brazilian poetry all happened this week.
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You say so much with a few powerful images. Cheers!
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Thank you, Delaina! I am glad you liked them.
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This flowed beautifully for me. Congratulations on having your work published in The Lyric Magazine!
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Thank you! I am happy to be published there. I am glad you liked the flow of the poem.
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I hadn’t heard of the form but I like how you manage to say so much in a short space. The photo is gorgeous; light and airy and full of love. Even the leaves seem to be heart-shaped. Congratulations on your publication!
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The leaves are heart shaped and they grow wildly. I don’t remember the name of the plant. Thank you, Lynn!
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An inviting photograph and poem. I want to climb the stairs, feel the light and be comforted by the love.
Congratulations on your publication.
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Thank you, Lorraine! The house has a lot of natural light during the day and there is are windows above that stairway.
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Love will show us all about
The heart is a potent equalizer for love triumphs and mostly under trying times. Very true Frank!
Hank
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Trying times seem to be there to make the triumphs better. Thanks, Hank!
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Yes, congratulations, Frank – now to look up “Chutes and Ladders” And you have peaked my curiosity about the ‘trova romantica’ form.
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Thanks, Kathy! The Lyric Magazine is only a print publication, but they sometimes post examples on their home page. For metrical poetry it is one of a handful that I read. For trova in general here is a link to a few of them. I use Google translate to get the general meaning: http://www.juraemprosaeverso.com.br/PoesiasETrovasPopulares/ColecaodetrovaspopII.htm
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add my congratulations too Frank – its fun to follow up and along your poetry explorations
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Thank, Laura! There is also an old “alliterative” meter that I have found interesting in the past. It is what Beowulf would have been written in.
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Congrats on the publication Frank. This poem is short and very sweet. Nice form.
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Thanks, Paul! I am glad you like the poem. I like short pieces. By the time the reader wants to give up on them, the poems are over.
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lovely, lovely poem, Frank, whatever form it might be. And congratulations on the inclusion!!!!!
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I don’t know that I got the form right, but the form is a game. It doesn’t matter. Thank you, Jane!
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Very nice, Frank.
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A sound message. Love is what makes a house a home.
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I meant to add–I enjoyed your reading.
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Thanks, Robbie and Victoria!
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HoMe..
KilteRinG
A FlAMe
NoW oF
Oxytocin
PLacE witHiN
Walls oF Love
FLoW iN oPeN Arms zONe
BoNFiREs No CeiLinGs SoULs..:)
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Yes, a home should be a container of love. Thank you, Fred!
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OverFloWinG
WitH SMiLes..:)
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The poem sounds good. Congrats on your published poem. 🙂
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Thank you, Imelda! I am glad you enjoyed the sound.
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To my ear you have achieved your purpose. It has the sound of troubadours and madrigals. The images are fine and in contrast to the form, essentially modern. I liked it very much.
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Thanks, Gay! I am glad it also sounded modern. I am going to have to read more of the songs written by those troubadours.
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Interesting form. So subtle it doesn’t feel like a “form”, but flows very smoothly at the tongue. Congrats on your poem being selected.
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Thanks, Colin! As an English form it would fall under “common meter”, but I think there is more going on here that the form doesn’t capture.
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Such a lovely well-written poem….beautiful picture…!
Congratulations! !
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Thank you, Sreeja! I am glad you liked the poem and picture.
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Small but perfectly formed Frank 🙂 I love it!
(And well done on your publication!)
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Thank you, Mary! I like poetry to be short.
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Taking up the July Challenge: https://jillys2016.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/2747/
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Thank you! I liked it!
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Hello Frank, I finished your poem with my second half, your thoughts are appreciated, here, https://itsallaboutnothingg.wordpress.com/2017/07/08/home-tour-inspiration-post-jillys-july-challenge/
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Thank you, Jeren! I am glad you wrote a second half to this.
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A lovely combination of photo and poem, Frank. It was fun listening too. I like hearing poets read their work.
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Thank you! I sometimes make recordings if I want to check how the poem sounds. I am glad you enjoyed it.
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Concisely perfect!
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Thank you, Eugenia!
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Nice–Home should be a sanctuary and you conveyed that well.
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Thank you, Sean!
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