Seven plunks, some down, some up...
eleven more to fill this line completely...
beats be four to fill this cup...
and sugar stirs so sweetly.
Now salivate and stir and slurp discreetly.

A riddle? Or a pun on the word 'Lira'

18 plunks some down some up... seven first, then eleven more needed... coins (lira) to buy enough... drinks? I guess as they plunk one could 'hear-a Lira'!

'beats' as in ONE-two-three-four, ONE-two-three-four: Or 'beats' as in having something better than someone else?

I think beats as in rhythm.

Hummmm... It's a tasty treat indeed whatever 'it' is!

If it's a riddle then I guess an answer will be forthcoming soon enough!

Dennis!

Ron,
If this is a true riddle, then you have me racking my brain to figure it out. Your rhyme scheme seems to be very effortless and rolls off the tongue.
I will have to read this a few more times to see if I can find the underlying message or perhaps maybe one of my craftier peers will figure it out for me.
JLY

Hi Ron,

What a lovely way to teach someone about the Lira and how to read it. Although I've found nothing about meter, yours reads so pleasantly with it.

Or you could just be sitting in a coffee shop~ LOL

Beautifully done!

Cathy

Cathy, your so darn clever!

Got it!

Nice work Ron!

Seven then eleven! DUH!

Dennis!

Dear All,
Although I'm not Catholic it's time for a confession!
I should have anticipated that this one would confuse.
I had never heard of a poetic "lira" until a few days
ago and was in the mood to experiment. Now don't
laugh! You might know that I'm the one here who tries
to write with emphasized beat and will exercize every element
of my poetic license to achieve it.
On reading the formula, it said syllables per line is to
be 7-11-7-7-11 and rhyme scheme is ababb.
Wow! This would make more sense to me if it were
abaab, for repetition's sake based on the syl count.
I started by annoting the following:
/--/--/a
-/--/--/--/b
/--/--/a
/--/--/b
-/--/--/--/b
My muse refused! In this case I listened.
/-/-/-/a
-/-/-/-/-/-b
/-/-/-/a
-/-/-/-b
-/-/-/-/-/-b
Now museless and unencumbered, I liked the repetition
this offered and the b (/-) feminine endings.
Having no idea as to message, I considered each "syl" a plunk,
the downbeats the -, the upbeats the /.
SEVen PLUNKS, some DOWN, some UP...
eLEVen MORE to FILL this LINE comPLETEly.
the best I could do now to fit words into line 3
BEATS be FOUR to FILL this CUP (someone surely would find a substitute for the second "fill", otherwise I'd leave it as weak alliteration
I now had "cup" to deal with and needed to tie it into a -/-/-/-b line
It was 9:20 and I was still sipping coffee and althought I take it black,
there was a chance for some smiley alliteration
and SUgar STIRS so SWEETly.
now SALiVATE and SWIRL* and SLURP disCREETly. *replaces STIRS

Rather than a burst of inspiration, my light verse is generally
written this way. Somewhat like doing a crossword puzzle.
Thank you all for your interest if you're still here!
Cheers to All, Ron jgd

ROLF!!

I've put poems together like that before. LOL Hopefully they come together sensibly when I'm done!

Well done with yours~
Cathy

The forms correct; if, I had criticism, I'd dispense with the ellipses's.


Lira. A spanish stanza form and a special form of the cancion (qv). It consists of a combination of five eleven-syllable and seven-syllablelines rhyming ababb. The name derives from Garcilaso de la Vega's fifth cancion which begins 'Si de me baja lira'.

According to J.A. Cuddon.


Interesting little stanza, well explained, Ron.


Your poem reads well. The form would make a rhythmic poem with extended stanzas.


Regards,


John