A stave of six is a six-line stanza with an ABABCC rhyme scheme. Most stave of sixes are written in iambic pentameter or iambic tetrameter, but because meter is my weak point I ignore that part.
Here is an example of a stave of six by William Wordsworth; I copied it from
The Poetry Dictionary by John Drury.
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company;
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
YOUR CHALLENGE FOR THIS WEEK: Write at least one stave of six. If you want to ignore meter, go ahead, I won't stop you. Like I said before, I ignore meter most of the time.
Please post your works as new threads in this forum and feel free to comment on everyone else's offerings. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!
If you have an idea for a challenge private message or email me. I'd love to hear it!
Miranda