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   nine2fivestudio (nine2fivestudio@nicecrew.digital)'s status on Friday, 30-May-2025 08:31:13 JST nine2fivestudio

   • ?uper?nekFriend ?
   • BowserNoodle ☦️
   • karna :flipflop: :buffsuki:
   Poetry-lovers, I would like some assistance.
   
   What poetic form would you associate with the classical Greek and Classical Chinese elements (earth, water, wood, metal, fire, and air)? And which form would you associate with "light magic" or "divine magic"?
   
   Here's what I'm thinking:
   
   Fire - Petrarchan sonnet (ABBAABBACDECDE); lay a foundation of quatrain wood for an enlightening conclusion
   
   Metal - Villanelle; repeating refrain and solid structure emulates the solidity and geometric nature of refined metals
   
   Air - not sure yet...
   
   Earth - not sure yet...
   
   Wood - Spenserian stanza; sing-songy and easily fashioned into a multi-stanza poem like a forest pushing out its borders
   
   Water - Shakespearean sonnet; ebb and flow in first three quatrains finishing with a couplet like the break of a wave on shore
   
   Divine - not sure...
   
   Other poetic forms to consider are rhyme royal, haiku, and alliterative verse like early Anglo-Saxon and later Scandinavian poetry. I was thinking Air would be Haiku (light and transient). I was also thinking of using Rhyme Royal for Divine/light and possibly using the perfect sonnet form (ABBAABBACDCDEE) for water.
   
   I would prefer to keep this to forms that work well in English; I'm hesitant to use Haiku or other forms measured by syllables instead of metric feet like Chinese poetry. I would also prefer to steer clear of super complex forms like the rondeau.
   
   Any thoughts?
   
   @SuperSnekFriend @karna @BowsacNoodle
   • BowserNoodle ☦️ likes this.
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     BowserNoodle ☦️ (bowsacnoodle@poa.st)'s status on Friday, 30-May-2025 08:45:03 JST BowserNoodle ☦️

     in reply to

     • ?uper?nekFriend ?
     • karna :flipflop: :buffsuki:
     @nine2fivestudio @SuperSnekFriend @karna I like the ideas you listed above for the forms. I'm completely ignorant of Chinese poetry. I did some looking to at least give you some kind of answer. Air in Western traditions is usually white or blue sometimes gold related vs more vast and open in Eastern with mentions of landscape and direction. Not sure if that is any use at all and I feel like this is beyond me. I guess a gut answer would be talking about breath/life and the four winds for air. Earth could be growth and green and brown and mentioning cycles of nature. You could almost go caveman level simplicity for a chant a la "Druidic" træditiøn, maybe referencing some old Celtic stuff?
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     karna :flipflop: :buffsuki: (karna@poa.st)'s status on Friday, 30-May-2025 08:47:08 JST karna :flipflop: :buffsuki:

     in reply to

     • ?uper?nekFriend ?
     • BowserNoodle ☦️

     @nine2fivestudio @BowsacNoodle @SuperSnekFriend I'm not well versed enough in study the poetry to give good advice nor do i know much about chinese elements, but here's my 2 cents.
     For air, you could consider two broad "feels": something that evokes a more gentle atmosphere (pun intended) or the opposite approach where you focus evoking the more destructive aspects of gales and tornados and the like. For unrelated reasons I can't put my finger on, limericks also come to mind here.
     For metal, my first thought is blacksmithing, which then conjures images of dwarves like in lord of the ring, which reminds me further of the song of durin. While it isn't quite the structure you mention it is straightforward and has clear structure which is metallic in some loose sense. I dotn have a recommendation here, just an unfinished thought.
     For fire, I think a sestina might be interesting, where rhyme is not required bit there is still structure. My reason is that if you watch a flame burn and try to predict how different parts of it will move you will have a hard time, but as a whole the fire still has structure, it moves upwards as it burns and is guided by any wind that is around... Not sure about the others

     BowserNoodle ☦️ likes this.