Wisdom from Will’s Quill

Carpenter Memorial Contest—Judging Guidelines:

Must be light verse: humorous, amusing, ironic, witty, parody.

May be seasonal.

Nothing dark or heavy.

The writer chooses the traditional form, not free verse and identifies the form for the judge.

The writer chooses a rhyme scheme.

 

Remembering Poets—Judging Guidelines:

Must use a traditional form, not free verse and identify the form for the judge.

May emulate the poet’s style; may be a tribute to a favorite poet; may deal with the poet’s

life, career, etc.; may be a dialogue with the poet; may be a parody of a poet’s

poem.

The poet must be identified.

May be serious or humorous

 

Limerick Contest—Judging Guidelines:

Limericks must have 5 lines in the poem.

The form and meter is as follows:

1st, 2nd and 5th lines are anapestic trimeter: (-  – /  -  – /  -  – /)

3rd and 4th lines are anapestic dimeter: ( -  – / -  – /)

The 5th line may be longer than 3 feet (trimeter)

Must be humorous, clever.

May be slightly bawdy.

 

 

Trust in God Contest—Judging Guidelines:

Must have six quatrains (4-line stanzas) separated after 2nd, 4th and 6th stanzas with a

repeated 2-line refrain. The refrain does not have to be identical in phrasing or

rhyme, but it should be close.

Rhyme scheme: abcb  cded  ff  eghg  hiji  ff  jklk  lmnm  ff

Content must deal with some aspect of faith, religion, spirituality, metaphysical.

 

 

Samuel Marmaduke Contest—Judging Guidelines:

Narrative:  must tell a story.

Must use ballad or modified ballad form, not free verse, not prose.

Ballad form: use quatrains (4-line stanzas), iambic tetrameter (4 feet per line: – / – / – / – /)

Rhyme scheme:  abab, cdcd, efef . . .

Modified ballad form: use quatrains (4-line stanzas) alternating iambic tetrameter and

iambic trimeter (3 feet per line: – / – / – /)

Rhyme scheme: aabb ccdd eeff . . . or abba, cddc, effe . . .

Another modified ballad form (also called a fourteener), use quatrains (4-line stanzas with 7-feet lines, iambic heptameter (- / – / – / – / – / – / – /)

use internal rhyme and end rhyme (for example, the sixth syllable and 14th syllable rhyme or the 5th & 6th syllables rhyme with the 13th & 14th syllables)

End rhyme is either ballad or modified ballad: abab, cdcd, efef . . . or abba, aabb, cddc, ccdd, effe, efef.

To reach the 50 line limit, the writer may add a summarizing couplet at the end of the poem.