Form Challenges #18
Sijo Poetry |
Introduction
Korea is a country very rarely considered for its poetry and yet it contains a poetry form that
makes me consider the Sijo poetry far more suited to Western thinking than the very often misused
Haiku of Japan.
Like the Haiku the traditional Sijo is a three line poem, but there the similarity ends. Unlike
the Haiku the Sijo can have any number of stanzas to make it a ballad or a lyric and it can contain
metaphor and other similar ideas.
The traditional Sijo is of about 44 syllables consisting of four phrase groups per line.
It is usually broken up this way:
3. 4. 3. 4.
3. 4. 3. 4.
3. 6. 4. 3.
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The following poem is considered to have the essentials requirements of a Sijo.
Sijo Form
Sijo poetry, a Korean form, it only needs three simple lines
The first line makes a statement and this one a counter claim
but this one, it elaborates, and creates a paradox.
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Modern Sijo
In "Modern Sijo", there has been an easing of the syllable count of the phrase groups and
more modern poets have broken up the phrase groups into two per line and from this we have
a six line sijo as an alternative poetry form.
Thus using the modern form my original poem becomes:
Sijo poetry, a Korean form,
It only needs six simple lines
The first lines make a statement
And this one a counter claim
But this one, it elaborates,
And creates a paradox.
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Sal Coraccio
Saved
Old black pine, rooted constrained within stone; a life hard won.
Thirty springs, hundreds of feet of snowfall, of rain and roots.
Now it's here, safe in mica pot - have I done it a favour?
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Etain Druantia
Bitter Victory
Battles waged, resistance naught;
shallow wins, nothing is learned.
Walls tumbled, victories danced.
Dreams shimmer, golden hope reigns.
Betrayal! Knife plunged deep into breast.
Defeat prevails; trust is lost.
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Burn
I love you, she whisper kissed;
I love you, his lips echoed;
Morning dawns, night's chill lingers;
lovers warm 'neath love's covers;
Soft greets hard, becomes infused with heat;
two souls burn with passion's flame
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Driftwood
Dreams crashing on shores of life,
hope lost to relentless tide
Driftwood tossed upon seawall,
sun wind sea bickers deform
Spied by one seeing beauty hidden,
with carver's strokes, prize revealed.
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Mary Evans
The Kiss
You come to me, in a dream. Music playing soft and low.
Mind pictures play, fast forward, then rewind; freezing the frame
pausing the kiss, savouring the taste of passions embrace...which lasts forever
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Peggy Nelson
Once the Storms
Once the storms frightful striping of structures built by mankind
Rest the ruins from the desert winds that have shown its powerful blow
Suppose I Need to think positive; peaceful dreams, than comes truth…
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Ryter Roethicle
Frustration
How can love break down thick walls, each layer built because of pain?
Fear also builds up each cicatrice, gives excuses to hide and cover.
This façade, built carefully over years, how can any lover beat it?
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Wake Golden Sun
Wake golden sun from your dreams, so I may wake and live mine
Bright yellow shafts, streaming in, show my dreams are more than real
Look closely, can any dream be so real, see how in life, love conquers.
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When a man's in love
When any man is in love, his reason goes out the door
Then even the wisest man, behaves like a silly fool
It is then the strongest Emperor becomes a slave to her will.
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Leny Roovers
Caged
You were caught, my poor dragon, put behind strong iron bars.
In free flight you roamed the skies, size and might impressing men.
Breathe your fire and melt these bars, to humble mankind again.
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Sasha Walker
Frustration
I see her long limbs braced, thick against an unseen voice ~
swirling seas of angry lyrics, tossed into the churning sky.
On this side of the glass I watch, while nature has her way.
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Moonbeam Lullaby
We danced with the wind mistress as Luna sang her lullaby
she carved our names in moonbeams love was painted with her sigh
now willow speaks in whispers beneath her blackberry sky
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