A dear friend gave me lots of points, so I'm going to host a contest in his honor. My friend writes minimalist poetry, beautiful minimalist poetry, and I write ballads, narratives and epics! I would like to combine the two and ask you to write tiny ballads. Tell me a story in five lines or less, beginning, middle and end.
Below is a definition of a ballad. Obviously, you can't do all this in five lines, so I will interpret loosely. Please try to follow the spirit, if not the letter, of the form.
"BALLAD
A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter but frequently deals with folk-lore or popular legends. The plot is the dominant element, dealing with a single crucial episode, narrated impersonally, with frequent use of repetition. They are written in straight-forward verse, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are suitable for singing and, while sometimes varied in practice, are generally written in ballad meter, i.e., alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with the last words of the second and fourth lines rhyming, an xbyb rhyme scheme." (From Glossary of Poetic Terms at Bob's ByWay)
This is similar to the current craze to write your life story in six words or less. I'm not at all sure that I can do this, but I'd like you short verse writers out there to show me how! Rhyme or not, as you wish. No erotica, no funny typing, no cursing.
This is for you, Burma Shave!
Below is a definition of a ballad. Obviously, you can't do all this in five lines, so I will interpret loosely. Please try to follow the spirit, if not the letter, of the form.
"BALLAD
A short narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain. The story of a ballad can originate from a wide range of subject matter but frequently deals with folk-lore or popular legends. The plot is the dominant element, dealing with a single crucial episode, narrated impersonally, with frequent use of repetition. They are written in straight-forward verse, seldom with detail, but always with graphic simplicity and force. Most ballads are suitable for singing and, while sometimes varied in practice, are generally written in ballad meter, i.e., alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, with the last words of the second and fourth lines rhyming, an xbyb rhyme scheme." (From Glossary of Poetic Terms at Bob's ByWay)
This is similar to the current craze to write your life story in six words or less. I'm not at all sure that I can do this, but I'd like you short verse writers out there to show me how! Rhyme or not, as you wish. No erotica, no funny typing, no cursing.
This is for you, Burma Shave!
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on July 20, 2008
- Rewards: Gold: 800, Silver: 600, Bronze: 350, Honorable mention: 25 people
- Final notes: Tiny Ballads have now been written and judged. It was quite a challenge, wasn't it, to write a ballad in five lines or less. Some of you rose mightily and met the challenge head on. Others tried but fell short. For the winners, well, Hitchin' Post Blues made me laugh every time I read it. It's the only entry with a true ballad format, including the chorus. Congratulations on the gold. Sahara told the story of most of our lives: we're almost at our destination, then we turn around and head back. Why? Who knows? Fear, exhaustion, perversity? Sahara wins silver. Magel Chakram paints a scene most of us have seen - a little one learning to walk and being coaxed by crowds of doting relatives to come to them. Sweet scene. Congrats on bronze. And finally, Five Lines seems to me like the first stanza of a longer ballad. It left me wanting more - and isn't that what we all want from our poetry? Five Lines takes Honorable Mention.
And the remaining entrants win my thanks and my high regard for your poetry.
celtic queen
Contest Winners
-
It happened one day on the boulevard,
All day long I'd been playin' hard.• Commented on by judge. [remove] - Error: Unable to find finalist item 4393675, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
-
by Fourthaxis 15 lines, 4 comments, on Jul 4 1:20 PM 2008. In Life, Personal, Contest
Bronze trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
Papers filled with empty, meaningless scribbles sit in front of the teen.
She’s waited so long for a chance, through music, to say• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
They met before she knew what love was for Their passion blazed and then it went away• Commented on by judge. [remove]
-
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Honorable mention
Entries [14]
1 - 14 of 14
-
A stoic face of ancestry smiled silently upon dusty fireplace mantle.
Deeply sculpted lines reflected working from dawn to long past settby ears2hearyou 38 lines, 9 comments, on Jul 4 3:00 PM 2008. In Contest, Dedication, Friendship, Humanity, War, Society, Inspirational, Happin• Commented on by judge. -
Once there was a dragon
Who had eyes for a temptress...by Dragonheart1 7 lines, 6 comments, on Jul 5 11:14 AM 2008
• Commented on by judge. -
A question is posed a feeling less answer The words leave me blank I long not to speak• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
-
Toss it up roll it down
barks and laughterby Ladyporsche 61 lines, 2 comments, on Jul 17 3:26 PM 2008• Commented on by judge.
Add a comment
Comments
-
Hey your contest only needs 20 entries but your honorable mentions are 50 people?
-
-
Thanks!
It's fixed now.
cq
-
Adding your comment:
