Guest Author - Jordan McCollum

These two classical European poetic forms are both examples of syllabic poetry. Syllabic poetry counts the number of syllables on each line, rather than the number of stressed syllables per line. With syllabic poetry, you can ignore where the stresses fall in each line. While this may feel somewhat unnatural to poets who use highly traditional forms, it’s always good to step outside one’s comfort zone occasionally.

Alexandrine
While occasionally utilized in English poetry, the alexandrine has a much more extensive history in continental European poetry.

• Alexandrines feature prominently in Baroque Germanic poetry as well as Italian, French and Spanish classical poetry.
• An alexandrine is a line of twelve syllables (except in Spanish, where it is a line of 14 syllables, although the definition of “14” depends on where the final stressed syllable of the line falls).
• There is often a caesura (pause when reading) between the 6th and 7th syllable. You can also divide the line in thirds with caesurae.
• “Iambic hexameter” (twelve syllables, the odd syllables unstressed, the evens stressed) is often used in English language alexandrines. (But not this one.)

Alexandrine poet, you need not rhyme each line.
Yet sometimes you do it, and to me that’s just fine.

Making the alexandrine creative: The alexandrine form is a little unwieldy to English speakers, who more naturally fall into iambic pentameter (ten syllables/line, the odd syllables unstressed, the evens stressed). How does the irregular pattern of stresses affect to the rhythm of the lines? Does this rhythm (or lack thereof) suit itself to any particular images or themes?

Décima
As with the alexandrine, the décima is based on the number of syllables in the line, rather than stresses.

• The décima is a Latin American poetic form.
  
• It consists of ten lines of eight syllables each.
  
• The décima has a set rhyme scheme of ABBAACCDDC.

Décima flows like molasses
on January morn. I blink.
Through cottony cobwebs, I think.
Thoughts: a series of morasses.
Rub my eyes; replace my glasses.
Now thinking more clearly, I make
progress quickly. Each step I take
Reminds me how easy this is
For Latin misters and misses.
My dashed off verse, quite the mistake.

Making the décima creative: As with other strict poetic forms, writing a décima is a challenge in itself. Adhering to the rhyme scheme and syllabic guidelines should be enough of a creative stretch to make your regular poetry flow more easily. If you want to try something completely different, you can utilize rima asonante, as it’s called in Spanish: matching the vowel sounds only. (It’s actually a bit more complicated, but I’m sure this method is challenging enough.)