A RHUPUNT FOR SPRING

Spring’s colour thrills
when daffodils
and bold jonquils
burst into bloom.

Tulips tower,
freesias flower,
colours shower,
banishing gloom.

All spring we’re blessed;
bulbs give their best,
’til time to rest
in a dark room.

James Aitchison

A RHUPUNT (pronounced hree’-pint) is a Welsh poem with some curious rules:

1. Each line must have four syllables
2. The first three lines of each stanza must rhyme
3. The final line of each stanza must rhyme with the final lines of the other stanzas (in other words: aaab, cccb, dddb, eeeb, etc)
4. Each stanza works as a complete sentence or verse in itself.
5. If you prefer, stanzas can have three lines (aab, ccb, etc) — or five lines (aaaab, ccccb, etc) — it’s up to you.