Rhymed couplets - a National Poetry month post
A follow-up to yesterday's post about rhymed couplets. Here are some snippets so you can see them in action:
Oft has our poet wisht, this happy Seat
Might prove his fading Muse's last retreat.
~John Dryden: from "Epilogue to Oxford"
And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite,
One truth is clear, "Whatever is, is right."
~Alexander Pope: from An Essay on Man
He learn'd the arts of riding, fencing, gunnery,
And how to scale a fortress - or a nunnery.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron: from Don Juan, Canto the First, XXXVIII
Behold, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight.
~William Wordsworth: from "The Sparrow"
Music, you are pitiless to-night.
And I so old, so cold, so languorously white.
~Amy Lowell, from "Nuit Blanche"
I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.
I do not like them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
~Dr. Seuss, from Green Eggs and Ham
As soon as Fred gets out of bed,
his underwear goes on his head.
His mother laughs, "Don't put it there,
a head's no place for underwear!"
But near his ears, above his brains,
is where Fred's underwear remains.
~Jack Prelutsky, from "As Soon as Fred Gets Out of Bed"
She doesn't mind what people say.
She always does things her own way.
~Nikki Grimes, from "Meet Danitra Brown"
Time to plant trees is when you're young,
So you will have them to walk among -
So, aging, you can walk in shade
That you and time together made.
~James Hayford, from "Goats in Pasture"
And here's one to get you started, should you want to try your hand writing a poem using rhymed couplets. It's two lines I drafted that went nowhere. On the one hand, it's a complete thought; on the other, two more rhyming lines could make it something more. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write those two lines:
Webbed-foot babies in a row
Ducklings waddle to and fro
I hope you'll share if you come up with an end to my duck tale!
Oft has our poet wisht, this happy Seat
Might prove his fading Muse's last retreat.
~John Dryden: from "Epilogue to Oxford"
And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite,
One truth is clear, "Whatever is, is right."
~Alexander Pope: from An Essay on Man
He learn'd the arts of riding, fencing, gunnery,
And how to scale a fortress - or a nunnery.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron: from Don Juan, Canto the First, XXXVIII
Behold, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight.
~William Wordsworth: from "The Sparrow"
Music, you are pitiless to-night.
And I so old, so cold, so languorously white.
~Amy Lowell, from "Nuit Blanche"
I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.
I do not like them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
~Dr. Seuss, from Green Eggs and Ham
As soon as Fred gets out of bed,
his underwear goes on his head.
His mother laughs, "Don't put it there,
a head's no place for underwear!"
But near his ears, above his brains,
is where Fred's underwear remains.
~Jack Prelutsky, from "As Soon as Fred Gets Out of Bed"
She doesn't mind what people say.
She always does things her own way.
~Nikki Grimes, from "Meet Danitra Brown"
Time to plant trees is when you're young,
So you will have them to walk among -
So, aging, you can walk in shade
That you and time together made.
~James Hayford, from "Goats in Pasture"
And here's one to get you started, should you want to try your hand writing a poem using rhymed couplets. It's two lines I drafted that went nowhere. On the one hand, it's a complete thought; on the other, two more rhyming lines could make it something more. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write those two lines:
Webbed-foot babies in a row
Ducklings waddle to and fro
I hope you'll share if you come up with an end to my duck tale!