Quatern Options

[JustDaniel]

Quatern, Latin for “four at a time,” is a 16-line French poetic form of four quatrains. Each line contains eight syllables, which may or may not have a metrical pattern.  There is also no requirement of rhyme (usually there being none), but there must be one descending refrain:

L1 of the first quatrain becomes L2 of the second, L3 of the third, and L4 of the final quatrain.

Example (repeated line in bold, merely for illustration):

I'm Nurtured

I'm nurtured by the idea of you,
Suckled at the breast of dawning,
Consumed by omnipresent morning,
Savored by your passion fruit.

Timeless links that unchain memories,
I'm nurtured by the idea of you;
Eternally humbled by your presence,
Siderial, endless passion-moments.

Vessels sail around the tempests,
souls present a compassed rudder;
I'm nurtured by the idea of you,
As winds direct our passion-sails.

Entwined by cords that won't untie.
Bound by ties like forget-me knots,
Savored eternally, souls entwined,
I'm nurtured by the idea of you.

© Norman S. Pollack

... and the only quatern thus far from my own repertoire:

New Wise

I want to see Your eyes, not mine
as I stand here to start each day
before the mirror, ere I dine…
ne’er speak a word before I pray.

Instead of blindly forging forth,
I want to see.  Your eyes — not mine —
will let me find in others, worth
beneath malignity, benign.

I need Your heart to realign
my thinking, feeling.  Reaching out,
I want to see… Your eyes, not mine.
I’ve viewed the world through fear and doubt.

With this new sight, I’ll close my eyes,
to rest in awe of Your design,
then sleep in peace.  It’s no surprise
I want to see Your eyes… not mine.

© Daniel J Ricketts 17 April 2005