Let us begin...

 

Nothing’s sweeter than a metre

Flowing neatly, and completely

To a rhyming scheme, with timing

That’s precise. And this device,

Which is the art that sets apart

True poetry, is prosody.

 

 

However…

 

Ta-dum ta-dum is tedium,

So intersperse iambic verse

With a pyrrhic or trochaic

Foot, to change or rearrange

The emphasis. And we call this

Variation modulation.

 

 

And moving forwards…

​

Use assonance that can enhance

A choice of word where rhyme’s absurd,

Make dissonance and consonance

The tools to quash indulgent tosh,

And if the beat seems incomplete?

Fine! Because - caesuras pause.

 

 

So in conclusion…

 

It’s not a skill to write at will.

True poetry needs prosody,

To write to form you must adorn

The page with style and use some guile;

Let rhymes entwine through run on lines

And mix the beat with random feet.

​

Class dismissed!