Post by frankcoffman on Oct 16, 2021 14:13:25 GMT -5
Jack
(a Gwawdodyn Sonnet)
(a Gwawdodyn Sonnet)
Stalking the East End streets after dark;
Walking, prowling, looking for a mark;
Eager to more than kill with a keen blade;
He knows that, if seen, his lusting lark
Might end, this hot spree of grisly sport.
No more to watch the features contort
As life leaves, her face becomes a mask
Of fear—then in its place—Death! Report
Of his work filled his black heart with glee,
But, with more eyes watchful, one might see
Him at his grim and bloody task, might ask
“Why out so late at night?” But wait! She
Smiles—Then, “In Miller’s Court I have a room.”
She leads him to his bliss—and to her doom.
Walking, prowling, looking for a mark;
Eager to more than kill with a keen blade;
He knows that, if seen, his lusting lark
Might end, this hot spree of grisly sport.
No more to watch the features contort
As life leaves, her face becomes a mask
Of fear—then in its place—Death! Report
Of his work filled his black heart with glee,
But, with more eyes watchful, one might see
Him at his grim and bloody task, might ask
“Why out so late at night?” But wait! She
Smiles—Then, “In Miller’s Court I have a room.”
She leads him to his bliss—and to her doom.
©2019 Frank Coffman, Member HWA, SFPA
First appeared in The Coven's Hornbook & Other Poems
Bold Venture Press
*Gwawdodyn Sonnet — The Gwawdodyn (pronounced gwow-dodin)
is a stanza of four lines resembling the Persian rubáiyát form in
some ways, although the syllabic meter is strict with the lines having
9, 9, 10, and 9 syllables: 1) The main rhyme in each group of four is on
the 9-syllable lines, thus AABA as with the rubái stanza. 2) As in several
other Welsh forms, a syllable one, two, or three syllables before the final
syllable in the 10-syllable line must rhyme with one of the middle three
syllables of the last 9-syllable line. I have added two 10-syllable lines as a
couplet to complete the 14 for the Gwawdodyn Sonnet.
is a stanza of four lines resembling the Persian rubáiyát form in
some ways, although the syllabic meter is strict with the lines having
9, 9, 10, and 9 syllables: 1) The main rhyme in each group of four is on
the 9-syllable lines, thus AABA as with the rubái stanza. 2) As in several
other Welsh forms, a syllable one, two, or three syllables before the final
syllable in the 10-syllable line must rhyme with one of the middle three
syllables of the last 9-syllable line. I have added two 10-syllable lines as a
couplet to complete the 14 for the Gwawdodyn Sonnet.