Thread: The heroic couplet

I think most of us know what a couplet is, two rhyming lines. Heroic couplets were called that because they were used in poems about heroes and their deeds. So far so simple. The next bit sounds complicated, but it is not really, a heroic couplet consists of two iambic pentameters, that means two lines made up of five iambs, and an iamb is simply two syllables, the first of which has a light stress and the second a heavy one, for example, dis/tress or un/made. (The / separates the two syllables in this example).
Example of an heroic couplet, divided into iambs,

When I/ consid/er life/ ‘tis all/ a cheat
Yet fooled/ with hope/ men fav/our the/ deceit.

So the idea is that we write a poem by each contributing an heroic couplet, the form is more suited to some types of poem than others, but I am sure we will discover that as we go along.
Here is a start, I have marked the iambs in case anyone is still unsure, but no need to continue with that:-


He sat/ upon/ a wild/ and rug/ged shore
And coun/ted off/ the ob/jects that/ he saw

As the mighty sun, in the distance, crept
From its warm sunrise to a cold sunset

================================

That works doesn't it?

I am going to put them together so they can copy and paste to build up, this is as unexpected as the limerick thread, I was almost sure There would be a list of objects.

He sat upon a wild and rugged shore
And counted off the objects that he saw
As the mighty sun in the distance crept
From a warm sunrise to a cold sunset

He sat upon a wild and rugged shore
And counted off the objects that he saw
As the mighty sun in the distance crept
From a warm sunrise to a cold sunset
He counted stuff all through the live long day
'Til work had stopped and kids had left their play

I can live with that Ox.

Okay...

There once was a farmer took a young miss
Behind the barn where he gave her a kiss

Just so you know, Ox, you're not following the meter scheme Olly laid out of iambs. You're roughly going dun-dun-DUN-dun-dun-DUN-dun-dun-DUN, instead of dun-DUN dun-DUN dun-DUN dun-DUN. there ONCE was a FAR mer TOOK a young MISS, beHIND the BARN where he GAVE her a KISS. he LEANED right CLOSE but SHE beCAME a BEAST

There once was a farmer took a young miss
Behind the barn where he gave her a kiss
he leaned right close but she became a beast
with rows of teeth on him she deigned to feast

KLM, I heard it like this:


There once/ was a/ farmer/ took a/ young miss/
Behind/ the barn/ where he/ gave her/ a kiss/

I left the burbs of London at sixteen
And sailed for distant lands I'd never seen

A lie of sorts I sometimes spread around
I only went to Essex, Harlow New town

I left the burbs of London at sixteen
And sailed for distant lands I'd never seen.

A lie of sorts I sometimes spread around
I only went to Essex, Harlow New town.

But in old age that dream lives on in me,
To go and find the wonders I might see.

But in old age that dream lives on in me,
To go and find the wonders I might see.

The reality of old age is not like this,

But now my body's getting old and sore
I don't go off and travel any more

I cancelled next weeks holiday yesterday because the insurance company won't touch me for travel, to be honest I am relieved.

I left the burbs of London at sixteen
And sailed for distant lands I'd never seen.

A lie of sorts I sometimes spread around
I only went to Essex, Harlow New town.

But in old age that dream lives on in me,
To go and find the wonders I might see.

But now my body's getting old and sore
I don't go off and travel any more.


So I guess that finishes it? How do we know when one is done?

As for burbs, we have them here in the USA. Sure, they're suburbs, but it's common to say "living in the burbs." I thought this was an international site, not a U.K. site. So stop dissing our lingo, guys. We bomb our own citizens you know, so you certainly aren't safe from my American wrath!

He gave a place to rest your weary head,
despite your claim he was the one to dread.