Have you ever heard someone sing the song Roses are Red? If you have, it means you've heard the quartet's rhymes. A quartet is a rhyme that consists of four lines and has a rhyme. If a quartet equals one verse, a quartet rhyme can consist of several quartets (including only one). Rhymes can be arranged in a wide variety of ways, so that these poems can be widely adapted and enjoyed. The steps to creating a unique quartet rhyme include choosing a topic, determining the rhyme and finding words that rhyme.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Exploring the Forms of the Quartet
Step 1. Practice writing in a quartet system
This quartet system is a rhyme consisting of four lines that have a touch of rhythm and rhyme patterns. Rhythm pattern means that each line has the same length and rhythm stress pattern; For example, in an iambic pentameter rhyming poem, each line has five (pent) words with 2 syllables, resulting in 10 syllables in each line. An example of a poem written in an iambic pentameter rhythm is Shakespeare's "Sonnet18"
- Although a quartet poem is usually made up of several quartet stanza groups, each stanza group can stand alone, much like a paragraph in a story or essay.
- Thus, practice composing a quartet of stanzas before composing a full poem; this will be very helpful.
- Don't be afraid to try writing a quartet of rhymes that you want to develop into a full poem; this is just an exercise.
- Try to arrange a quartet according to the selected syllable framework into the four stanzas.
- See and feel how much you can write in a quartet like this. This exercise can show you what a longer quartet rhyme really looks like.
Step 2. Experiment with rhyme
Use the quartet verses you have created and try rewriting the same verses with different rhymes. This exercise will help you determine which rhyme sound you think works best; You can then use these sounds to build the entire rhyme you are about to write. There are no rules for how a quartet's rhymes should rhyme; You can make it up however you like!
- The rhyme pattern is usually symbolized by the letter (ABCD). Each time a stanza ends with a different sound, the sound is assigned a new letter symbol. For example, if the last word of the first stanza is “smoke”, this is symbolized by “A”. The same symbol is given for other stanzas that rhyme “-okay” (“joke”, “baroque,” etc.). The next stanza that has a different sound and rhyme is given the symbol “B”, the next “C”, and so on. The following are some of the commonly used rhyming quartets:
- ABBA: This is called an enveloped quartet because rhyme A wraps around rhyme B. The result is a closed rhyme that is densely packed in the middle with another rhyme that wraps around the beginning and end.
- If an enveloped quartet verse is written according to iambic pentameter, it is called an Italian quartet; usually used for Italian octaves or Petrarchan sonnets.
- If an enveloped quartet is written according to the iambic tetrameter, it is called the rhyme In Memoriam which is named after the poem "In Memoriam A. H. H." by Tennyson.
- ABAB: This is called an intermittent quartet. If written according to iambic pentameter it is also called a Sicilian quartet, for example in the first 12 lines of an English sonnet.
- AABB: The string quartet has two strong rhymes. If you use it in very long poems, you'll notice that this rhyme can feel tedious and predictable.
- You can also try inserting a third sound, although this makes the poem unrhymed: ABCB, ABCA, ABAC, etc.
Step 3. Read and study the poems written in a quartet style
There are several forms of rhyme that have a long history of tradition, so you should research them first before playing with these rhyming forms. But that doesn't mean you have to follow the style adopted by earlier poets; Study the history of these rhyming forms, then create your own freely.
- Regarding his poem In Memoriam, Tennyson said that this is a form of sadness over the death of his close friend Arthur Hallum and indeed "In Memoriam A. H. H." written for him. The shape looks like a lost tetrameter or a failed pentameter, and it is seen that the distance between the two A's rhymes symbolizes the obsessive nature of the poet's inability to forget the death of his friend.
- Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard" is written entirely in the style of a Sicilian quartet.
- A. E. Housman uses a series of quartet style in his poem “To An Athlete Dying Young” to symbolize the roaring strains of the audience – cheerful and optimistic – which play a contradictory role in the death described in the conclusion of his poem.
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An example of repeating the ABCD rhyming form (where the first four lines do not rhyme with each other at all, but rhyme with lines in the next group of quartets) can be found in the first two quartets of John Allan Wyeth's "Souilly: Hospital":
Fever, and crowds---and light that cuts your eyes--A
Men waiting in a long slow-shuffling lineB
with silent private faces, white and black.C
Long rows of lumpy stretchers on the floor.D
My helmet drops---a head jerks up and criesA
wide-eyed and settles in a quivering whine.B
The air is rank with touching human reek.C
A troop of Germans clatters through the door.D
Part 2 of 2: Writing Quartet Rhymes
Step 1. Choose a theme for your poem
What has been on your mind lately? Is there a problem that befell you, or is there a joy that pleases you? You just fell in love, or stressed from overwork? Have a new pet, or your pet just died?
- Picking the theme you're thinking about means you have plenty of material to write about.
- If you can't pinpoint a specific theme that's been on your mind recently, you can start with a general theme, such as nature or emotion, and then try to build on a more specific theme around it.
- Observations can also provide a way to find ideas for the theme of a poem. Go to a crowded place, such as a mall or train station, then observe the crowd. Try to imagine the inner mood of the people you see, where they are from and where they are going. Take note of what you find interesting; You can create a character in a narrative poem or a drama monologue.
Step 2. Choose a rhyme shape
You've been experimenting with different rhyming forms with the quartet you're writing. Choose a rhyming form that feels compatible with the theme of the poem you're writing, or one that you like. For example, if you're writing a poem about sadness, you can use ABBA-embracing rhymes as in In Memoriam, without the need to be bound by the iambic tetrameter.
- If you are making several quartets, you might try using serial rhymes, where one rhyming sound in the previous verse group is used into the next verse group: ABBA BCCB CDDC, and so on.
- An example of a chain rhyme can be found in the poem “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, although this poem is actually written in a set (3 lines), not a quartet (4 lines).
- You can also create more interesting rhyming shapes by mixing different rhyming shapes. For example, a poem AABA BBCB CCDC, will sound more challenging – and less boring to the reader. Although the first B and C appear to be independent, these rhymes will repeat themselves in the next quatren. Finally, a completely independent D rhyme breaks the whole pattern and serves as a reminder that you don't have to rhyme for every line.
Step 3. Write one line to start
This first line forms the basis of your rhyme, because at this stage you don't need to think about rhyming. Of course, there are times when it's hard to get started with rhyming at first, so if you think you have an idea for a line of rhyme you like the sound of – even if it doesn't have any meaning yet – write it down so you can start writing the next lines.
Step 4. Write other lines around the original line you've decided to complete your quartet's rhyme
Remember the rhyming form you chose and think about the word choices you will use to close these lines. Remember that a quartet is a group of ideas, like a paragraph, so you need to build an idea within the four lines of this quartet.
- Use a rhyme dictionary or word-choice encyclopedia to help you if you run out of ideas for rhyming ideas or need to look up words with similar meanings.
- Consider carefully the list of words that can rhyme with the last word you have written, trying to choose words that relate to the theme.
- Arrange using the words you have chosen to form a full quartet. For beginners, try to line up rows by row of the same length.
- You are also free to use slanted rhyme, also known as outer rhyme, to form difficult rhymes. Italic rhymes are formed when two words don't completely rhyme but sound similar to give the impression that they both rhyme.
- Emily Dickinson is a master of oblique rhymes. For example, look at Because I could not stop for Death - where he rhymes with civility, chill with tulle, and day with eternity.
Step 5. Read aloud the quartet you have composed to see if your work flows naturally
This quartet feels natural when read aloud, as if the notes and rhymes fit together like a song. If it feels awkward, you need to fix it. Shorten the lines that are too long and the lines that are too short so that the rhymes can form at good intervals.
Step 6. Write the next quartet
Think about what you just wrote, then decide where the rhyme will go next. Remember that each quartet cannot stand alone even if it has its own ideas, it needs to be connected with the verses after and before.
A great way to add depth of meaning to a poem with multiple quartets is to use change of meaning – create a line starting with words like "but" or "but", which can give a completely different tone to the whole poem so that it forms a new element of the poem (for example, a dilemma, a question, a solution, or anything the reader has not thought of)
Tips
- Listen and refine your rhyme before you decide it's over. There are always events to enrich the Language you speak.
- You can become a good rhyme writer if you practice – you won't become a rhyme writer just by writing one rhyme.
- Make your own notes on the general ideas you want to convey. Think about keywords seriously, find rhymes related to this idea. The more consideration you take before writing, the easier it will be to write.
