This week will focus on my practice of a newfound form of poetry. It’s an Irish poem called an ae freislighe (sounds like “eye-freshly”), and it has a more complicated rhyme scheme than most might be used to. Here’s what goes into an ae freislighe:
Each stanza needs to be four lines, and you can have as many stanzas as you’d like
Each line is 7 syllables
The last three syllables of line 1 rhyme with the last three syllables of line 3
The last two syllables of line 2 rhyme with the last two of line 4
No matter how many 4-line stanzas you include, the poem must start and end with the same word, phrase, or full line. This is called a dunadh (rhymes with “gonna”)
Here’s one of my ae freislighe poems, I hope you enjoy!
Suffer in the wilderness Flee before fiery vision Get ye out from villainous Men who refuse to listen Fill your soul with righteousness Though brothers bicker bitter Work away the idleness Then sweep away the litter Know the Lord is infinite Kneel down before His altar Make salvation imminent Find life within the water See God, and then surrender Forgive a wicked brother In sin, pain, death—remember, All things the Lord did suffer.