Just when you think we’ve uncovered every Poetic form under the sun, we unearth another Welsh form–this time, Cywydd Llosgyrnog.

Cywydd Llosgyrnog Poems

Besides the spelling of the name, a poet can figure out this is a Welsh form pretty quick because it’s a syllabic-based form with internal rhymes. Here’s the structure of this six-line form (with the letters acting as syllables and the a’s, b’s, and c’s signifying rhymes:

1-xxxxxxxa
2-xxxxxxxa
3-xxxaxxb
4-xxxxxxxc
5-xxxxxxxc
6-xxxcxxb

So lines 1, 2, 4, and 5 are 8 syllables in length with lines 1 and 2 rhyming as well as lines 4 and 5. Lines 3 and 6 have 7 syllables and rhyme with each other; plus, line 3 has an internal rhyme with lines 1 and 2 while line 6 has an internal rhyme with lines 4 and 5. No other rules as far as subject matter or meter.

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Here’s my attempt at a Cywydd Llosgyrnog:

Daffodils, by Robert Lee Brewer

Daffodils don’t sway in the breeze
every time you hear old men sneeze;
instead, they tease spring awake
with their precocious happiness
in maintained beds and wilderness–
a simple dress for love’s sake.

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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.

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Find more poetic posts here:

• 10 Best Winter Poems.
• 5 Poets No One’s Heard of but Should.
• Amorak Huey: Poet Interview.

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