hey all! i know it has been a while since i popped up here on FFF (over a year actually), but i thought i would see if an actual CONTEST might catch a bit of interest. so since i am in a foul mood and a bit of a refrain-nut i thought i would combine the two for the second official FFF contest: the 'fraidy refrain form contest!

here is what you need to know:

1) you may pick ANY form that contains the repetition of at least one line (or part of a line) in the requirements for that form. tutorials for several (but by no means ALL) options will be linked to at the bottom of this post. this requirement covers the refrain-nut part.

2) the subject matter of the poem MUST contain a horror element. monsters, madmen, mayhem...GO FOR IT! this requirement takes care of the foul-mood bit.

3) to be considered as an entry to this contest all poems must have a link to this journal and a mention of the chosen refrain form in the comments and be entered into this group's 'fraidy refrain forms contest folder by no later than 23:59 CET on april 22, 2018. this folder is open to submission by any deviant, meaning you don't have to be an FFF member to enter or win. and you may enter up to 3 poems but please make sure they are all of different forms.

4) first place will receive a 3 month subby, second and third will each get a one month subby. if the winners would rather, they can just get the points.
MagicalJoey has offered a feature and llama to the top three poets. 
if any other individual or group would like to offer other prizes please contact me via a note.

5) i am the only judge at the moment, but if anyone else is interested in helping out please let me know via a note.

that's about it. if there are any questions you can leave them in the comments or note me. have fun and i look forward to reading the entries!

now for a few tutorials...

empat empat tutorialthe emapt empat (four four), like it's cousin the pantoum, originates from malaysia. like the pantoum, it contains an incidence of whole line refrain, and quatrains with alternating rhymes. there the similarities kinda end. while with the pantoum the number of stanza's is up to the author (though there are usually at least 3), with the empat emapt there is a set 4 stanzas. also, the only refrained line is the first line of the first stanza. but, it is refrained is different places in each subsequent stanza.
the rundown:
four stanzasthe meter or syl-count is up to the poet, but remain consistent throughout the piece. the first line in the first stanza is refrained as the second line in the second stanza, the third line in the third stanza and the last line in the last stanza.traditionally the rhyme scheme as i have done it in the below example, keeping the same rhymes throughout the whole piece, but anglicized empat empat tend to allow differing secondary rhymes in each stanza, whi
bilbian sonnet tutorialthe bilbian (my last name is bilbee... what else would i call it?) sonnet came about on my bike ride home last night. i had the first and last line of the first stanza of the example below in my head and realized they were in iambic pentameter and that got the ball rolling...sorry, guys.
the rundown:
first off, it IS in iambic pentameter with a total of 14 lines... but that is the easy part.
the first and last lines of the first stanza have 2 seperate rhymes in common: one at the fifth syllable and one at the tenth. not only that, they should not so much refrain as echo one another.
a similar echo effect should appear in the third and sixth lines of the first stanza.
the last line of the second stanza is constructed by refraining the first five syllables of the first line in the first stanza and the last five syllables from the last line in the first stanza.
there should also be a haibun-type relationship between the stanzas, with the second expanding or extrapolating on the theme
pentelloum tutoriali devised the pentelloum while playing around with various refraining forms like the villanelle and the pantoum. as you will see, it isn't the easiest to get your head around, but i think it is fun.
the rundown:
- any syllable-per-line count or meter is fine, just be consistent throughout the entire piece.
- there must be at least 2 stanzas.
- there are 5 lines per stanza.
- lines 1, 3, and 5  rhyme and line 2 & 4 rhyme.
- lines 2 & 4 from the preceding stanza are refrained and become lines 1 & 3 in the current stanza.
- in the concluding stanza line 5 from the beginning stanza is refrained as line 2 and line 1 from the beginning stanza is refrained as line 4.
in the template below, the A1 would represent the fist line in the A rhyme scheme, B1 the first in the B scheme and so on so that the refrains can be more easily illustrated. the template illustrates a 3 stanza pentelloum.
A1
B1
A2
B2
A3
B1
C1
B2
C2
B3
C1
A3
C2
A1
C3
and here is an example:
pe
cinquain refrain tutorialthe cinquain refrain, not to be confused with the cinquain, is a form i devised after playing with refrain forms like the monotetra and the trijan refrain.
here is the rundown:
- there are 5 lines per stanza (no minimum or limit to the number of stanzas)
- there are eight syllables per line.
- lines 1,2, and 3 rhyme with one another
- lines 4 and 5 rhyme with one another
- there is an internal rhyme concerning the first 4 syllables of lines 2 and 3: they must be phrases that rhyme with one another. they must also rhyme with line 4.
- the first four syllables of lines 2 and 3 are refrained, in order, to create line 5.

in the template below, the numbers indicate the number of syllables per line, and the uppercase letters in parentheses indicate the rhymes. this pattern is repeated for each stanza, though it is not necessary to use the same rhymes in each stanza.
8 (A)
4 (B) 4 (A) (for a total of 8 sylls)
4 (B) 4 (A) (for a total of 8 sylls)
monotetra tutorialthe monotetra is a quirky though fairly simple little form created by michael walker.
here is the rundown:
*there must be at least 2 stanzas, though more is fine.
*each stanza has 4 lines
*within each stanza ALL lines must rhyme
*each line has 8 syllables
*the last line of each stanza is composed of a 4 syllable phrase that is repeated, in a refrainish nature.
and here is a template for a 2 stanza monotetra. the number is the number of syls per line and the capital letter denotes the rhyme. (simply follow the stanza pattern for pieces of more than 2 stanzas):
8 A
8 A
8 A
4 repeated to total 8 A
8 B
8 B
8 B
4 repeated to total 8 B
and an example:
dithering druthers
to peer into the wishing well:
will my will fate's forces quell?
or am i jailed in karma's cell?
oh, who can tell? oh, who can tell?
and if my tithe i to it cede
do i now practice faith or greed?
what is the outcome of this deed?
what to believe...what to believe...
triolet tutorialthe triolet is a 13th century french form. it can be set in either 3 stanzas or as one stanza. the meter is usually, though not always, iambic pentameter. the rhyme scheme is highly dependent on the refrains that occur frequently throughout the form. in the template below the CAPs (A & B) denote entire repeated lines while the lower case letters (a & b) simply denote a line that rhymes with the corresponding refrain:
A
B
a
A
a
b
A
B
or, in the 3 stanza form:
A
B
a
A
a
b
A
B
here is an example:
requiem of attrition
sing slow dirges for the deeds undone:
the fields left fallow; unmarried maids.
the wars, unwon, will not unslay sons!
sing slow dirges for the deeds undone.
the gods gave way, the reaper has won;
the martyrs: mummers; churches: charades.
sing slow dirges for the deeds undone:
for fields left fallow; unmarried maids.
villanelle tutorialthe villanelle is a challenging form based on french concepts. it is highly repetitive, using 2 lines as refrains throughout the form, making it hard to progress concepts, let alone a narrative. it is composed of 5 terzains (3 line stanzas) and a concluding quatrain. on the flip side, there are only 2 sets of rhyming words and no real mandatory meter or syllable count, though most modern villanelles use pentameter.
in the following template the first refrain (that is an entire line repeated not just a word or rhyme) is denoted by CAPs (A), the second refrain by BOLD (A) and the general rhyme schemes denoted in lower case ( 'a' for the lines that rhyme with the refrains and 'b' for the secondary scheme).
A
b
A
a
b
A
a
b
A
a
b
A
a
b
A
a
b
A
A
trijan refrain tutorialthe trijan refrain, created by jan turner, is a fairly simple form. it consists of 3 9 line stanzas, all sharing the same beginning line. lines 7 and 8 of each stanza are a repeated refrain of the first four syllables/words of line 5 of the same stanza. the syllable count and rhyme scheme run as per below (this pattern, shown here once, is repeated for each of the 3 stanzas):
8 / A (same LINE to begin each stanza)
6 / B
8 / A
6 / B
8 / C
8 / C
4 / D (reapted first 4 syls/words from line 5)
4 / D (reapted first 4 syls/words from line 5)
8 / C
here is an example:
lurking trijan refrain
the truth comfits our senses not;
our gates are needle's eyes.
our vision: through with darkness shot;
unfit to pierce truth's guise.
lurking along peripheries
in places we but fail to see;
     lurking along,
     lurking along
is sheer, stark actuality.
the truth comfits our senses not;
we're deaf as well as mute.
we are spawn of the omni
glosa tutorialthe glosa is originally a form of the 14th and 15th century spanish court, as a form of tribute or deference.
to begin, the writer chooses a stanza of poetry by another writer (the form is this tutorial is for the traditional choice, a quatrain, though  preface stanzas of other line counts can be used) and uses that as a sort of preface to the poem they are writing.
then the writer creates a 10 line rhyming stanzas for each line in the preface stanza, having each of those stanzas end in the according line of the preface stanza.
to illustrate this, and to more easily line out the rhyme scheme, a template is below. please note the BOLD letters denote a line from the preface poem and the same letter in regular type is merely meant to rhyme with that line:
D
H
L
P
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
C
D
D
E
F
E
F
G
H
G
G
H
H
I
J
I
J
K
L
K
K
L
L
M
N
M
N
O
P
O
O
P
P
the line length/meter/syllable count is generally mediated by that of
pantoum tutorialpantoum is a malaysian form of poetry, highly cyclical and structured in nature. i feel the best way to describe it is to annotate a poem to highlight  the structure. there is the added difficulty that in each stanza lines 1 and 3 and lines 2 and 4 must rhyme with one another.
the letters in parentheses denote an entire line of text, not simply a rhyme pattern:
holographic nothingness
(A) had a pattern
(B) with no meaning
(C) loose and scattered
(D) evading gleaning
(B) with no meaning
(E) simply racket
(D) evading gleaning
(F) thought refracted
(E)simply racket
(G) fey and delirious
(F) thought refracted
(H) interference
(G) fey and delirious
(C) loose and scattered
(H) interference
(A) had a pattern...
there is no limit to the number of stanzas, nor to the meter/syllable count per line.
the only real rules are the stanza structure, line repetition, the reversal of lines (A) and (C) in the last stanza and the needed rhymes in the alternating lines.
while it
shokuga tutorialshokuga (or hybrid) form is derived by placing haiku/senryu between the stanzas of a pantoum.
pantoum is a malaysian form of poetry, highly cyclical and structured in nature. i feel the best way to describe it is to annotate a poem to highlight  the structure.
the letters in parentheses denote an entire line of text, not simply a rhyme pattern:
(A) tinkering
(B) with the forms
(C) thinkering
(D) with no norms
(B) with the forms
(E) as lab rats
(D) with no norms
(F) mind abstracts
(E) as lab rats
(C) thinkering
(F) mind abstracts
(A) tinkering
there is no limit to the number of stanzas, nor to the meter/syllable count per line.
the only real rules are the stanza structure, line repetition, the reversal of lines (A) and (C) in the last stanza and the needed rhymes in the alternating lines.
while it is a fairly simple pattern, the challenge lies in bringing the poem into a finish that makes sense.
to make this pantoum a shokuga, write haiku/senryu that expound or illustra



CONTESTANTS:
BATTLEFAIRIES
Parsat
MagicalJoey
the trijan refrain is a very challenging but very rewarding form involving varying syl/ line count, rhyme schemes and two types of refrain. WOOT!!

This challenge opens as of now and will be open until the end of january 2017. here is the obligatory tutorial: fav.me/d4jr3y5 .
While there are no real prizes, there is the pride in attempting a challenging form and prolly a feature or two.
have at it, guys!

i am also hosting a weekly prompt. here is the first journal fav.me/dausdmh .
:iconbluemoonbird: is hosting a collaborative writing event. details are here: bluemoonbird.deviantart.com/jo…
i was awol, now i am back...if you submitted pieces and they expired and you would like to resubmit them, i will stay on top of the stuffs now :)

also: haikuwrimo is fast approaching, as i am sure you all know. check out :iconthe-haiku-club: for further details.

Recent Journal Entries

Journal Writers