Black mountains Wales Nr Talgarth
showing Pen y Fan in the distance by Les Haines, on Flickr
Many people are familiar with Japanese forms and have adopted them into English, but today’s prompt introduces you to another culture’s poetry:
- Write a poem based on a Welsh form, such as an Englyn Cyrch or Englyn Penfyr. Welsh forms use both syllabic regulation and rhyming. See the Wikipedia entry on the Englyn forms or the article about Englynion on the Guardian.com or the Welsh Poetry page at the Poets Garret, which includes many examples in English.
If you like, share a link to your poem in the comments below. If you choose to cut and paste your entire poem into the comments, remember that poems shared that way are not considered published in Wild Violet.
About Alyce Wilson
Alyce Wilson is the editor of Wild Violet and in her copious spare time writes humor, non-fiction, fiction and poetry and infrequently keeps an online journal. Her first chapbook, Picturebook of the Martyrs; her e-book/pamphlet, Stay Out of the Bin! An Editor's Tips on Getting Published in Lit Mags ; her book of essays and columns, The Art of Life; her humorous nonfiction ebook, Dedicated Idiocy: How Monty Python Fandom Changed My Life, and her newest poetry collection, Owning the Ghosts, can all be ordered from her Web site, AlyceWilson.com. In late 2019, she published a volume of poetry by her third great-grandfather, Reading's Physician Poet: Poems by Dr. James Meredith Mathews, which also contains genealogical information about the Mathews family. She lives with her husband and son in the Philadelphia area and takes far too many photos of her handsome, creative son, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda.
