Monday 9 March 2015

Clerihew poem form

I recently came across a verse-form I'd never heard of: CLERIHEW.
The definition says its a 'humorous, pseudo-biographical verse of four lines of uneven length, with the rhyming scheme AABB, and the first line containing the name of the subject'.

It sounds like a useful form - have I been using it? Probably not, though I've often been able to cast my poems into a form with a name long after writing them. The reason for that is probably because reading poetry involves being conscious of form and rhythm, as well as rhyme, the latter of which is, however, often sacrificed - but is that a sacrifice? Omittance can be, but does not have to be sacrifice. Worth discussing, but not here and now.