Kill convention – Ae freslighe

Darling, you kill convention

By your patience I’m humbled

My devoted companion:

You never let me stumble.

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Your love is my legacy,

Safety net when I’m falling

A weak hidden tendency,

Stay forever, my darling.

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Dear Readers,

Did that seem like a very simple little love poem? Oh, how looks can deceive! Here are the rules I followed to write this:

1. Each stanza has 4 lines (quatrain)

2. Each line has 7 syllables

3. A rhyme scheme of ABAB

4. The last word of the 1st & 3rd line of each stanza has 3 syllables

5. The last word of the 2nd & 4th line of each stanza has 2 syllables

6. The first word of the poem and the last word of the poem are the same.

Still seem like a simple poem? This one really had me racking my brain and I’m still not 100% happy with the end result!

This style of poem is an Old Irish style called Ae freshlighe. It goes as far back as the 5th century and was only carved onto trees or gravestones. So in order to remember them, Gaelic poetry came with a lot of repetitions, rhythm and alliteration. 

For more on Irish poetry and many other forms, please take a look at this wonderful resource for poets : Poet’s Garret. I get a lot of ideas and inspiration from this fantastic site. 

Thank you for reading everyone and hope you liked Ae Freslighe!