NaPoWriMo: Gosh! It was a Dream

Day 16: Halfway mark!! Yay!! Today’s prompt by NaPoWriMo is: I challenge you to write a poem in terza rima. This form was invented by Dante, and used in The Divine Comedy. It consists of three-line stanzas, with a “chained” rhyme scheme. The first stanza is ABA, the second is BCB, the third is CDC, and so on. No particular meter is necessary, but English poets have tended to default to iambic pentameter (iambic pentameter is like the Microsoft Windows of English poetry). One common way of ending a terza rima poem is with a single line standing on its own, rhyming with the middle line of the preceding three-line stanza. Happy writing!

Here’s a short example of a fairly contemporary poem in terza rima:

Ex: Parable

I read how Quixote in his random ride
Came to a crossing once, and lest he lose
The purity of chance, would not decide

Whither to fare, but wished his horse to choose.
For glory lay wherever he might turn.
His head was light with pride, his horse’s shoes
Were heavy, and he headed for the barn.

– Richard Wilbur

 

Gosh! It was a Dream

Did I see witches in the moon light,
Should I run off or stay and hide,
Wonder if it is easy to hide in the night.

Tip toed near a big rock and stood beside,
Every now and then taking brief glance,
Saw five ladies standing in circle with pride.

Around the fire they start to dance,
Laughing, clapping, singing,
Should I go near and check by taking a chance.

Near to the sea rocks the wind is chilling,
I dare not to peep any further in the beam,
If they were performing a ritual for killing.

I scream out and sit with fear, to know it was a dream.

   (c) by Preethi.B