Poetry Challenge—Introducing the Englyn: Form 8—the Englyn Lleddbroest

An englyn is a form of Welsh or Cornish verse, with a reputation of being hard to master. It has several different variants, all of which are governed by strict rules. This week, we’ll look at the englyn lledfbroest.

The englyn lledfbroest consists of a four-line verse. Each line has seven syllables that half rhyme with each other. A half-rhyme is one where the final consonants agree. In the englyn lleddfbroest the half rhymes must use the following dipthongs: ae, oe, wy and ei.

I have used ‘ay’ instead of ‘ae’ to reflect changes in the English language, included ‘ow’ to be synonymous with ‘oe’, and used ‘ai’ as the same rhyme as ‘ei’. I’m not sure if these variations are acceptable to purists, but they work rhyme-wise.

I Live Again

My heart had gone far away

My terror I held at bay

Never hoped to see the day

Thought I’d died and dead I’d stay

Then morning broke night’s dark reign

I felt blood move in my veins

I raised my head, breathed again

Took up the thread, my life skein.

Why don’t you give it a try? Try writing at least one englyn lleddbroest for each day of the week.

You can find out more about how to write englyns from the following sites:

http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/englyn.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englyn

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/englyn

http://www.poetrysoup.com/dictionary/englyn

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/188329/englyn

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/zoebrigley/entry/the_measures_of_1/

http://dversepoets.com/2012/10/11/formforall-englyn/

http://www.oocities.org/sca_bard/childrensenglynmilwr.html

http://www.oocities.org/sca_bard/childrensenglynmilwr.html