McMullen 1

Bethany McMullen

Jan Rieman

English 1102

1 April 2011

Make Up Your Own Prompt: Experimenting with Rhythmic Patterns

Haikus are a form of poetry originally of Japanese descent. They consist of three phrases with a

pattern of 5-7-5 which corresponds to the syllables in each phrase. They also usually have nature or

something natural in the world as their subject. Here are two Haikus that I have made.

Rains like cats and dogs

Flowers blooming everywhere

Spring is in the air.

The elm tree dances

As the leaves begin to sing

Woodland Waltz begins.

Shakespeare, in particular, was renowned for his use of iambic pentameter. Shakespeare used

iambic pentameter to help the audience decipher between upper class and lower class. Only characters

of upper class spoke in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter consists of ten syllables with five pairs of

stressed, unstressed syllables. There can be as many phrases as need as long as they follow the ten

syllables with five pairs. Here is an example of iambic pentameter that I made.

I /look /in/to /his /eyes /and /see /the /world.

He /en/comp/a/sses /what /I /wish /to /be.

He /held /me /close /as /we /pre/pared /to /fly.

In/to /the /sun /we /would /for/ever /be.

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Formally known as Otavva Rima this is the poetry know best to most people. It is the standard

eight line poem with the first six lines written in an, a-b-a-b-a-b, rhyme scheme with the last two lines

written as a couplet, two lines that rhyme. This originally was used to tell tales of heroic encounters.

Today it is used because of its standard form and ease to write. Here is a poem I wrote using Otavva

Rima.

The stage is set as the audience waits.

For months the anticipation has grown.

Finally he strolls onstage with his mates,

The crowd screams, “He’s in the zone.”

The first note rocks the state,

A beautiful vibration all alone.

He gyrates his hips and thrusts his thighs,

A gorgeous rockstar in disguise.

*Just a side note. I am in love with Russell Brand and was inspired by his leading role in “Get Him to the

Greek,” to write this poem.*