OVILLEJO

Time to experiment with a new form. This one comes via Poetic Bloomings.

By the way, have you been looking for a good on-line rhyming dictionary? I often use Rhyme Zone and B-rhymes.

An OVILLEJO (the name comes from the Spanish, meaning “tight ball of yarn”) is a verse that consists of ten lines. There are no specific line lengths required, but the shorter lines (numbers 2, 4, and 6) are usually no more than five syllables long, and the other seven lines no more than eight syllables long. The rhyme scheme reveals the mystery of the form:

1. a, Longer line
2. A, Short line
3. b, Longer line
4. B, Short line
5. c, Longer line
6. C, Short line
7. c, Longer line
8. d, Longer line
9. d, Longer line
10. A+B+C <— This line combines Lines 2, 4 and 6 to complete a thought.

Here’s my attempt:

“Perseverance”

Upon the knee grandpa taught,
Child, give not
heed to craven men whose
one excuse
for failure is denial
before trial,
who give up every worthwhile
struggle at first glance
of one deceptive hindrance.
Child, give not one excuse before trial.