We all know the Magic Dragon loves poetry and we’re going to try to write a new and different poem. We are going to try to write a Tyburn Poem. Tyburn poems were apparently created on the internet, so they are a very new and modern form of poetry.
A Tyburn is a six-line syllabic poem. Some of us will remember learning about syllables in other issues. Others may remember them from school. But for those who may have forgotten, let’s refresh our memories.
A syllable is the part of a word that has one or more vowel sound. (Remember our vowels, are A,E,I,O,U, and sometimes Y.)
At some time you probably had a teacher who helped you to hear syllables, by having you clap and count the number of vowel sounds in different words. She would say the word “Pencil” and you would clap out: pen (clap) and cil (clap). You would then learn that the word pencil has two syllables. If you clap out the sounds in the word arithmetic how many syllables would you get? If you said four, you are correct.
The Tyburn poem begins with four lines of 2 syllable words. These words must be descriptive.
Let’s write a poem about a rabbit. We might choose the following words for our first four lines. The words all have two syllables and they all rhyme.
1.Hopping hop(clap)ping (clap) one word – two syllables
2.Stopping stop(clap)ping (clap) one word—two syllables
3.Flopping flop(clap)ping (clap) one word-two syllables
4.Popping pop(clap)ping (clap) one word—two syllables
The last two lines of the Tyburn must have nine syllables and the lines must rhyme. Here is where the poem becomes a little complicated because these lines also have to reuse the words in the first four lines as the 5th and 8th syllables.
Using our rabbit poem, here is an example of how our last two lines might look.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. — syllables
Baby bunny hopping, stopping play
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 — syllables
Happy, rodent flopping, popping gay
Now let’s look at the whole poem
A Back Yard Visit
Hopping
Stopping
Flopping
Popping
Baby bunny hopping, stopping play.
Happy rodent flopping, popping, gay.
Now it is your turn to try writing a Tyburn, and don’t forget to send it in to the Magic Dragon!