The Etheree

[ariestess]

Today, I thought I'd introduce you to another of my favorite poem forms, the etheree.

And I will just say this now: Sometimes, when I'm not paying attention, I'll call this the Etheridge poem, because of the similarity of the names. Crazy, I know, but there you go. *g*

The basic format is a 10-line poem with increasing syllables [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. You can also do these in reverse [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1], or do a longer poem of multiple stanzas of the etheree, even alternating the forward and reverse versions.

I've only written one so far, so I don't know that any sort of rhyming will work for this format, but give it a shot if you want!


"present"

bow
askew,
torn paper
litters the floor.
forgotten so soon,
left like so much rubbish.
no one cares how long it took
to find the perfect paper shell.
they strip it away in a mad rush
to reveal the treasure hidden within.

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Comments

[untonuggan]

I like that the first word has multiple meanings, because when I first read it I read it as "to bow"...so even though it took me a moment to readjust, I took that meaning with me. Then it made perfect sense in the context of the last four lines (as though the one who wrapped the present was taking a bow.) So that was pretty cool.

I really like this format, especially because I have trouble remembering the "rules" for a lot of formal poetry and when I'm out and about and want to sit down and write one I forget what I'm supposed to do. So this might be something I could try when I'm out in a coffee shop or something. Thanks for sharing!

[ariestess]

*nods* A lot of the more formal formats are a little more difficult for me, especially when rhyming is involved.

And definitely give it a shot! It's a lot of fun... *g*

[alee_grrl]

What a fun and fascinating form. Thank you for sharing it.

I love the example poem you post. As untonuggan points out the multiple meanings of bow add some neat layers to the reading. I love how it unfolds visually much like the unwrapping of a present.

[ariestess]

Thank you! I want to write more of this particular form, and was actually surprised to see that I'd only done the one. Perhaps I'll make this the form for my next free poem day next month...

[lnhammer]

Hmm -- with 40 syllables, it's tempting to try and cross-cut that with 4 rhymed iambic pentameters, but the line breaks work against that and while the first and last rhyming syllables land on the end of a line, the middle two don't. (Marianne Moore's experiments notwithstanding, syllabic meters rarely rhyme well.)

---L.

[ariestess]

Yeah, it would definitely be a rhyming challenge with the line breaks as they're set up.

[jjhunter]

sharks
glide through
these waters
best swim with speed
far off point of fin
needs no music pounding
heart provides ready soundtrack
compounding fear with frenzied beats
sharks regrow their teeth every two weeks
and these teeth are swiftly closing your lead

Forget rhyming, regular syllabic meters do not come intuitively to me in this format -- I'm all over the place on this front. This is an example of the rhyming scheme though, albeit a bit masked.

[ariestess]

Oh, that's fun. I like it!

[bookblather]

I had never heard of this form before this post, but I'm really glad you mentioned it. It's so ordered and yet so freeform; all you have to do is find the right subject and the poem just opens up like a flower. I tried my hand at one here: I'd love to know what you think.

[untonuggan]

I've made an etheree for challenge #3. You have inspired me!

[ariestess]

Woohoo! Glad you were so inspired!