Cyrch a Chwta: a Challenge!
My cat adores nothing more
Than salmon, whiting and flake.
And as for my Labrador,
He demands a juicy steak.
But they will not eat them raw —
I cook them, for heaven’s sake!
My parrot says I’m cuckoo.
What to do? I need a break.
James Aitchison
Teachers’ notes:
God bless the Welsh! Their fun poetic form, pronounced kirch a choota, requires:
- An octave stanza (eight lines)
- Seven syllables per line
- A choice of two rhyming patterns: aaaaaaba or abababcb; the big trick is Line 7, which has too cross-rhyme internally with Line 8, on either the third, fourth or fifth syllable!
In my poem above, the schematic is:
xxxxxxa
xxxxxxb
xxxxxxa
xxxxxxb
xxxxxxa
xxxxxxb
xxxxxxc
xxcxxxb
