Cywydd Llosgyrnog: Poetic Form | WritersDigest.com
Just when you think we’ve uncovered every poetic form under the sun, we unearth another Welsh form–this time, cywydd llosgyrnog.
Cywydd Llosgyrnog Poems
Besides the spelling of the name, a poet can figure out this is a Welsh form pretty quick because it’s a syllabic-based form with internal rhymes. Here’s the structure of this six-line form (with the letters acting as syllables and the a’s, b’s, and c’s signifying rhymes:
1-xxxxxxxa
2-xxxxxxxa
3-xxxaxxb
4-xxxxxxxc
5-xxxxxxxc
6-xxxcxxb
So lines 1, 2, 4, and 5 are 8 syllables in length with lines 1 and 2 rhyming as well as lines 4 and 5. Lines 3 and 6 have 7 syllables and rhyme with each other; plus, line 3 has an internal rhyme with lines 1 and 2 while line 6 has an internal rhyme with lines 4 and 5. No other rules as far as subject matter or meter.
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Here’s my attempt at a Cywydd Llosgyrnog:
Daffodils, by Robert Lee Brewer
Daffodils don’t sway in the breeze
every time you hear old men sneeze;
instead, they tease spring awake
with their precocious happiness
in maintained beds and wilderness–
a simple dress for love’s sake.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.
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