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This poem was written for the "Ode to Spring" poetry contest held by the Barony of Bright Hills last evening. The challenge was to write about spring in the homeland of your persona. For those who do not know, I am a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a medieval re-creation group, and my persona is a ninth-century Irish poet who answers to "Eithne."
So, despite the title, "Winter" is about spring ... sort of. Symbolically. The poem uses the idea, common to Irish folklore, that it is possible for humans to pass into the Faerie realm but, in doing so, they tend to discover, upon their return, that what they thought was a single day of celebration was, in fact, many years in their own world's time. The form of the poem is a sestina. Sestinas are a medieval form--12th-century French, to be exact--but in no way early Irish. However, since Eithne's culture is pre-literate, we have little idea of what verse forms she would have used. Perhaps she would have used a form with end-word repetition! The form was chosen for artistic reasons because of its relevance to the theme of the poem. The sestina contains six six-line units, each line with an end word that is repeated in a pattern throughout the poem, and a closing tercet that includes all six end words. Traditionally, each line of a sestina contains six iambs; I kept the twelve syllables per line but chose not to adhere to any metrical conventions since it did not fit the mood I wished to convey in the poem.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome! :)
( Winter )
So, despite the title, "Winter" is about spring ... sort of. Symbolically. The poem uses the idea, common to Irish folklore, that it is possible for humans to pass into the Faerie realm but, in doing so, they tend to discover, upon their return, that what they thought was a single day of celebration was, in fact, many years in their own world's time. The form of the poem is a sestina. Sestinas are a medieval form--12th-century French, to be exact--but in no way early Irish. However, since Eithne's culture is pre-literate, we have little idea of what verse forms she would have used. Perhaps she would have used a form with end-word repetition! The form was chosen for artistic reasons because of its relevance to the theme of the poem. The sestina contains six six-line units, each line with an end word that is repeated in a pattern throughout the poem, and a closing tercet that includes all six end words. Traditionally, each line of a sestina contains six iambs; I kept the twelve syllables per line but chose not to adhere to any metrical conventions since it did not fit the mood I wished to convey in the poem.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome! :)
( Winter )
