Here's another type of poem for us to attempt:             The Tetractys

A Tetractys is a 5 line poem with a syllable count of 1,2,3,4,10.  No rhyme scheme is required.  They can be written in humorous or serious modes. Here are some samples supplied by Daniel and me.  (Pssst ... Daniel has been called the Tzar of the Tetractys).  Thanks so much Daniel for your permission to reprint some of yours here as samples.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I went to sleep early one morning dreaming in Tetractys, I think.   Eileen, my wife, having prepared eggs and potatoes for us, kindly woke me to share them, and then escourt her van in for repairs before work. This was on the tips of my fingers.  I think I'll call this one "Morning"  I read it to her over breakfast.

Washed
Refreshed
Encouraged
Gently wakened
Knowing you're there brimming with love for me.

Dreamily,
© Daniel J Ricketts 

Capitals are not recommended except for proper nouns and the beginning of a sentence following a line that ended with a period.


salt
pepper
seasoning
tetractyses
adding to their interest and flavor

© Daniel J Ricketts

Now, a double.  Doubles are so well liked that once a poet begins writing them, it seems they ALL come out as doubles, or triples.  See what you prefer.

Hard's
not quite
adequate
to describe it.
A single Tetractys is troublesome.
By the way, what's the plur'l of Tetractys?
Couldn't find it.
"Obsolete"
Webster's
says.

Vexatious,
©  Daniel J Ricketts  

Now a few of mine.  Mine are ALWAYS doubles or more!  

Outer Space

Space
out there ...
and spaceships
are flying, where?
Who among us would admit to sightings?
Back off and take a good look at the shape
of this double
tetractys ....
you'll see
one.

(hehehehehehe)

© Dolly


It's All in the Attitude

Smiles
make fun
attitudes;
life's easier
with laughter and a cheery countenance.
Otherwise, life can hurt us all too much.
Remember, good
attitudes:
better
lives.

©  Dolly


Friendship

Friends,
varied.
Some are great,
others deceive.
Some are not your friend 'though you'd thought they were.
When friends are chosen for the wrong reasons
friendship won't last;
it will die
painful
be.

©  Dolly


Now see what you can do with your own creative energies.  I bet you'll soon grow to love this poetic form.  
Do it, do it, do it!  

Wow, Dolly, you found an OLD one!  one of my very first, asking how to spell the plural!  It's 'Tetractys,' by the way (for singular and plural)  *wink*

... and I really like yours!  I don't recall reading either of them before!

Do you remember this one?

foot-in-mouth-note
(Covering my tetractys)

Chews

battles

carefully,

even with words.

(tongue-in-teeth therapy for careless speech)

Some folks are always looking for a fight;

when you find them,

breathe deeply:

Bite your

tongue.

© Daniel J Ricketts 17 Dec 2002

Heyy Daniel,

I don't think I ever read that one!  Cute!

Daniel you have so much knowledge of this type of poem won't you please correct me when I'm wrong?  Like my posting of the title wrong and now I can't seem to get in there to change it.  

Anyway, thank you, O Mighty Tzar!  

Hugs and blessings,
Dolly    

Rise to thy feat, M'Lady!

Lift thine eyes aloft!

Aye, Sir Daniel,

I beg thee, kind sir, accept my grateful thanks for allowing me to rise in thy presence!            :laugh:

Daniel, this is another delightful tetractys.  I'm hoping some other folks will soon join us in some "tet" fun!  
  C'mon folks, give it a try!  
These tetractys' are simple and fun.  Try to make lines that could stand alone instead of breaking up one long sentence into the proper syllabic count.  You can make them serious or silly, any way that pleases you!  

Looking forward to all your tets!    

Athena/Dolly  

Well, I hope that seeing my name doesn't scare anyone away, Dolly!  You know I love 'em!

I know you love 'em, Daniel-san, and so will everyone else once they get to know you.   Thanks for this latest one ... it's super!  

I guess I'll need to slow my life down a wee bit and begin writing again ... soon.  Your life is in the same boat, as I know so well.  But, still you manage to do a little bit here and there and I admire that in you.

Hope you and everyone else has a happy day!

Blessings,
Dolly  

Thank you, Dolly!

Here's a kind of instructional tet I wrote back when I was just learning them.  It's an acrostic, as you can see from the bowled prince.

A TETRACTYS
(doubling as acrostic)

Add

The sum.

Each digit

Totalled is ten.

Really simple when you think about it.

Attempting it is fun and challenging.

Contemplate one

Tetractys.

You can!

See?


© MLee Dickens'son 27 Jan 2002

Now come on folks, let's party!        </font>

TREBLE TETRACTYS +


I
can’t stop;
once inspired
I sit for yonks,
and struggle against verbal diarrhoea.
Please
pronounce
on these words :
inspired, two, three?
And diarrhoea - is that three syllables?
Oh
my God!
Clever clogs,
look what you’ve done:
now my verses all look like Christmas trees!
Don’t
they?

Alan McAlpine Douglas

QUOTE (Alan @ Nov. 14 2003, 08:09)

TREBLE TETRACTYS +

I
can’t stop;
once inspired
I sit for yonks,
and struggle against verbal diarrhoea.
Please
pronounce
on these words :
inspired, two, three?
And diarrhoea - is that three syllables?
Oh
my God!
Clever clogs,
look what you’ve done:
now my verses all look like Christmas trees!
Don’t
they?

Alan McAlpine Douglas

Hey

Alan!
Thanksgiving's
before Christmas!
(But we're glad you had a ball with your tree.)

~Daniel~

Dear Daniel

Sorry, cannot accept this parochial viewpoint :

THE OBVERSE OF THANKSGIVING

Thanks
Mister !
Not this side
of our small pond :
We mere-ly were glad to wave you good-bye !


Alan McAlpine Douglas

PS As a Born NOT on the 4th of July American, I am using poetic license here ..... No infense ottended !


BAUBLES, SCHMAUBLES

The
Douglas
fir's a tree
by far too grand
for Christmas gilding - please don't needle me !

Alan McAlpine Douglas

Love
Alan

I bough to thine own parochial viewpoint; I'd never 'arm an heir o' yer Douglas fur, me friend!

Dear Daniel

You had me LOL within LOL within LOLs ! But my parents were honorable :

FROM ADOLF WITH LOVE ..... TAKE ONE

Al
bastard ?
Folks married
'neath Hitler pic !
Followed by an outbreak of World War II .....
Catholics dictated "rhythm method".
No conception
of error;
produced
me !

TAKE TWO

Then
extra
care with times;
sister followed.
They had quite enough rhythm. Change of beat !
Upright expression, horizontal lust
too capricious,
put on hold :
father
wild.

ONE-MAN MELTING POT

Dad :
so bright,
professor,
Irish, taught French
in America, immigration works !

Alan McAlpine Douglas

Thank you for the family hissTory, Alan!  Well-arttickleated, indeed!

Totally switching gears (rather than switching you, you rascal)...

I offer this with wishes for a white Christmas.  I just revised what I wrote to our Heavenly Father on Christmas morning last year, when we woke up to His beautiful dusting of snow over everything but the walks and roads:

My Inner Light


Hold.
Embrace
my world now.
Life is a joy
in each smile I see forming on your lips.
I relish the thought of you in my arms.
The inner light
residing
is only
you.

Wow!  :sings:

I've been missing out on all the talented tiles in here!  :cloud9:

These are all lovely!

Dani 0 what a beautiful tile! Straight from the heart!

Hugs!
Lori  :pharoah:

Calm
in mind
and strong in
heart yields love shared
from you to me and me to others, See?

QUOTE (Siren @ Dec. 03 2003, 18:36)

My Inner Light

Hold.
Embrace
my world now.
Life is a joy
in each smile I see forming on your lips.
I relish the thought of you in my arms.
The inner light
residing
is only
you.

Dani!

This is really exquisite.  I've been so distracted in the past couple of months, and I totally missed this one!  It's been so long since I've seen any form poetry from your hand, and this is really good.

I'd only offer paltry change to a couple of lines (If you'd care to email me re them, I'd be glad to suggest).  You have captured a very moving feeling, my friend.

deLightedly, Daniel  

Excellent, LorII ...

but for the third line; I think it's a bit weak.

Remember that one of the 'rules' of tetractys is that each line is to kind of stand on its own, with a separate thought or piece of thought added to the whole. My "editing" to yours is a mere suggestions to make the point.

Keep sharing your Light, my friend!

- Daniel  

Cleo and Daniel,

Thanks so much to both of you for the sweet remarks on this...

Daniah :)

With great pleasure...

and I've sent the additional perspective in email, as you requested.

Lightly, Daniel  :sun:

Thanks Daniel and Daniah...

ante posta

post
stop signs;
rural friends
pause less to chat;
progress brings humanity to a halt

Say There, Everyone!

I really do apologize for deserting y'all for so long!  Thanks Daniel for filling in for me, it's much appreciated!  

I'm so impressed with all these MARvelous tetractyses I'm thinking of starting a tetractys train.  Also, a cinquain train, haiku train, a poem-a-day challenge and some other things.    

Watch for what's next!    

Always trying to learn more y more y more!!        :rofl:

Athena    

Our Promise

Love
will not
fade or die
if we focus
on nourishing each other, giving love
with pure intent, keeping relationships
honest and true;
God centered,
love stays
strong

© D R Harris - 24 February 2004

Here's one that's 'palindromic'; read it forward... and then backward.

Daniel....Neat with the mirrored effect. :pharoah2
This is my first attempt

The
wild rose
weaves its way
across my fence
along the boundries of my property.
My neighbor sees them as invading weeds
rambling into
her perfect
hybrid
teas.

God
called her
in her sleep
and though we weep
He knew her life would soon be agony
He set her spirit free while she was she
and now we keep
her always
in our
hearts.

Sue, not surprisingly, you've done remarkably well with this first tet.  Brava!  I only offer a couple of suggestions.  Each line should say as much as it can standing on its own whenever possible; that is the ideal.  You've pretty much done that throughout.


I merely suggest any adjectival for the first word... anything but 'the' when possible.

the other suggestion takes advantage of the fact that 'rambling' can be read with either two or three syllables, allowing you to have 'rambling on' stand on its own as a figure of speach but have the dual purpose of carrying over into the next line.  You'll find that it's not best to end a line with a prepositonal phrase in these tight forms.  Look for ways not to; one of them is to fine expressions that fit that have dual purpose, like this one.

Super work here!

DeLightingly, Daniel  

merely offering a SUGGESTION for duality and getting rid of a word that usually doesn't add much... though the first one may.  

deLighting in your works, Daniel  

Thank you very much, Daniel...for the advice and the suggestions. 'My' is much better at the top and this is especially helpful re: 'rambling on'

QUOTE

takes advantage of the fact that 'rambling' can be read with either two or three syllables, allowing you to have 'rambling on' stand on its own as a figure of speach

Appreciatively learning,  :read:  
Sue

Dan....
Thank you again for lending you keen eye....'although' is good.
re: this line...'He set her spirit free while she was still'... though your suggestion is an understandable one...there is a reason for 'she was she'
She had a great fear of losing 'self'...the term is meant to indicate that when she died she was still herself. I think I need to work on a way to make that more clear. Like maybe 'Her spirit's free of fear and she's  still she.' would that work?

inquiringly,
Sue

I know exactly what you meant, Sue...

and I tried to replicate it with a slightly less clear ambiguity.  Note your own words:

QUOTE

She had a great fear of losing 'self'...the term is meant to indicate that when she died she was still herself.

thus my...

He set her spirit free while she was... still [ herself ]

Since that is not so obvious, you could simply make your next line...

herself... we keep

Maybe you can kick that around?

sharin' deLight, Daniel  :sun:

Daniel...you're a dear to come back to help with this and I thank you kindly.

I have a fix that may let me say exactly as I intended and use the original phrase from which I took my 'she's still she. It comes from a song that we played at her funeral...the phrase is 'you're still you'

would love your opinion if you have time...don't want to wear out my welcome, though.

God
called you
in your sleep
although we'd weep.
He knew your life would soon be agony.
Your spirit's free of fear and you're still you;
thus shall we keep
you always
in our
hearts.

Regards,
Sue

Though of course we cannot make this a critique forum, I think for the purpose of example, we can do this, so I don't think we're wearing out a welcome!

I think you're pretty much hit on a perfection of this wonderful, sensitive piece, only suggesting that you italicize the words of the borrowed song, which certainly are appropriate... and consider this punctuation.

The second to last line is still perhaps suspect, but certainly acceptable within this now very well-developed piece.

God
called you
in your sleep.
Although we'd weep,
He knew your life would soon be agony;
your spirit's free of fear and you're still you.
Thus shall we keep
you always
in our
hearts.

Oh yeah...that works for me.  :)
Thanks muchly. Daniel
Sue

hmmm... this occurs to me:

you always
herein
heart

for duality of herein and duality of heart=steadiness, the maintained self you mention about her... though that may be a bit of a stretch?

Just a Lights-on thought... Daniel

ahh yes...subtly effective.
Love those light-bulb moments.  
Gracias,
Sue

Inspiration’s Canvas

Form
concepts
expressions
interconnect
wondrous discoveries of the psyche
travel the mind in color; trace journeys
resourcefulness
sculpt imprints
lasting
mark

Message well received - very dramatic!