Incremental Poetry ~ 46 Lines

Anticipation

She tried to calm her beating heart
her beating, beating, beating heart
of him anew the thoughts would start
of him whom she adored

And then her thoughts with rapture soared
with rapture, rapture, rapture soared
until a fire within her roared
until it burned with flame

He came and played their secret game
their secret, secret, secret game
he came and then she did the same
he came to put it out

For now they’ve quenched the thirsty drought
the thirsty, thirsty, thirsty drought
but up has sprung a seed of doubt
but up a hint of fright

She wakened in the dark of night
the darkest, darkest, darkest night
her mind lamenting loss of sight
her mind set ill at ease

Was this all just an awful tease?
an awful, awful, awful tease?
she tried so hard her friend to please
she tried to read each cue

And every day she fonder grew
she fonder, fonder, fonder grew
the time was not yet right, she knew
the time was upside-down

As dawn turned things a dismal brown
a dismal, dismal, dismal brown
she sipped a sigh through parted frown
she sipped a bit of tea

Although her heart may troubled be
so troubled, troubled, troubled be
she knew just where to find the key
she knew the answer’s door

Her well-worn Book’s a treasure store
a treasure, treasure, treasure store
she turned the page and read some more
she turned her heart to mend

She thanked God for her faithful friend
her faithful, faithful, faithful friend
for they have friendship without end
for they have vowed to wait

She tried to calm her beating heart
for they have vowed to wait.

 

Copyright © 2019 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Welcome to my series, Incremental Poetry, where each week (or as often as I am able) the featured poem will be one line longer than the one I shared the week before. As the poems get longer, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep up the weekly pace, especially when I have to search high and low for a form that employs the set number of lines. But I am nothing if not tenacious. (My husband calls it stubborn.) And so I will keep pressing on toward my goal of a 100-line poem, even if there are weeks of silence between my compositions. As always, thank you kindly for stopping by.

Scansion:
Rhyming Wave
Created by Katharine L. Sparrow of AllPoetry.com
a poem consisting of 2 or more quatrains plus an ending couplet
total length may be: 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30… lines
L1, L2, L3 = iambic tetrameter; L4 = iambic trimeter
Rhyme scheme: AAab BBbc CCcd DDde AE, where capital letter represent refrain lines.
The technique is supposed to mimic the lapping of waves upon the shore.
L1: The penultimate word on L1 is two syllables, and the last word is one syllable.
L2 starts with a 1-syllable word followed by the last two words of L1, with the 2-syllable word repeated three times.
L3 rhymes with L1 & L2, but uses a different word.
L4 opens with the first 2-3 syllables of L3 and introduces a new rhyming sound, which is carried into the next stanza. This line is only 6 syllables long (iambic trimeter).
This pattern repeats for the entire length of the poem, with a minimum of two quatrains, but no maximum.
The final stanza is a coda in the form of a couplet, and is made up of first line of the first quatrain and the last line of the last quatrain. It should sum up the theme of the whole poem or add a bit of depth to the message.
NOTE: If this explanation is as clear as mud, just study the poem above, or click here to see another sample. The sample is easier to understand than the explanation….