The Tetractys - a new verse form By Ray Stebbing
A short form of verse the tetractys
You pronounce it to Rhyme with malpractise
Searching one day in the Oxford English Dictionary, I came across an unfamiliar word - 'tetractys'. It seems that Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1,2,3,4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own - Tetractys. This gave me an idea for a new form of syllabic verse consisting of five lines, the first of which contains a single syllable, the second two, the third three, the fourth four and the last ten syllables. What better name could I give it than 'Tetractys'? If centred, the form gives a pleasing triangular shape:
Fat Man
Walking
Bulk Turn the
tetractys on its head and you get the reverse tetractys:
As windblown, random, as subject to chance, [N.B. Although
these particular examples rhyme and alliterate, tetractyses do not have
to do so.] The tetractys
could be Britain's answer to the haiku. Its challenge is to express a
complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow
compass of twenty syllables. Or forty. Top one tetractys with another,
and we get...
Lifelines
Life ... a double
tetractys. I figure
that there are another three possible shapes for a centred double tetractys:
Of course,
you don't need to centre the tetractys; it can also be left- or right-
justified. These shapes,
too can be inverted and combined, which opens up further possibilities...
I leave you to work them out for yourself. The
Perfect Tetractys The perfect
tetractys would satisfy all the following criteria: It's a difficult
form. Somebody,
I forget who, said "If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing badly."
In writing a tetractys it is essential to satisfy at least the first and
last of the criteria. To satisfy most of the rest is highly desirable.
Manage to satisfy all seven... Well, we all aim for perfection, but usually
have to settle for mere excellence. The tetractys
is a challenging but rewarding short form. It takes a great deal of ingenuity
and requires some patience to work your deathless thought into the prescribed
format, but isn't it density of expression and verbal dexterity that distinguishes
poets from other writers? How
to get started - some suggestions The main
problem with writing tetracyses is to find a word that can stand alone
as a first or last line. One approach is to find a single-syllable adjective.
The following/preceding line can then be two more single syllable adjectives
or an adjective followed by a noun or a two-syllable noun or adjective
... This was the approach to this poem. The word was bent. First draft
Bent, The guttering/muttering
rhyme was deliberate, but I noticed that I'd inadvertantly got a rhyme
tottering/muttering which suggested that I try for a rhyme in line 8.
And it might be good to round off the poem with the rhyme that got me
started which led to:
Bent,
Now a short
title was needed; guttering and sputtering gave the clue:
Brief candle Starting
at the other end you can take your single-syllable word, in this case
it becomes a verb:
His long life filled with the best intentions, However
with a little adjustment the first and last lines can be made to rhyme:
He lived a long life filled with good intent Well, that's
ok, but perhaps it needs extending with a further stanza that follows
the same rhyming pattern. I started with thought, came up with the rhyme
fraught and...
With misconstructions hapless lives are fraught Finally,
put them together and find a title:
Epitaph for Everyman
He lived a long life filled with good intent You'll
spot a further slight adjustment has been made in this final version;
I've lost the awkward penultimate line, what we, which cannot stand alone
as a syntatical unit. It is possible to introduce slight pauses after
seldom and matches without violating normal diction. Unfortunately, the
universalizing we is lost, but the title restores this. You could
start with a single syllable noun. Bells for example
Bells I'm not
too keen on the last line:
Bells Nope!
Bells That'll
do nicely. Now for a title. How about Tintinnabulation? Perhaps not. Ear
drops? Even worse.
Campanile
Bells A single-syllable
verb can also work as a starting point:
Breathe
Ok, so far... Not too
bad but not much of a swing to it
Breathe! Ok, but
Heaven has a falling rhythm, no sufficiently triumphant, and not accurate
- heaven is not a void To a Christians and Muslims heaven is full of distractions
- angels and ministers of grace and houris - not emptiness. Nirvana is
better but adds a syllable too many. Finally:
Breathe! The title?
Meditation, what else?
Meditation
Breathe! [Not too
bad but sometimes you may have to give up the struggle and accept that
your poem can't be forced into the procustrian bed of a particular form:
Breathe! is, to
my mind, the better version.The addition of a single syllable has improved
the metre but destroyed the tetractys] Are there
other strategies? You could start, as you start most other poems, with
a subject in mind, write the first line of a reverse tetractys and then
decide upon a single- syllable word to work down to. You may also want
to wish upon youself the additional burden of rhyme:
Smug Nerd
Collect your e-mail. Such a lot of junk! Technically,
a triple-reverse tetractys - sounds like figure in ice skating! Finding
the first word Single-syllable
nouns, adjectives and verbs are fairly common, but what about other parts
of speech? Articles
(the, a, an) will never do for the single-syllable line, since they don't
conform to rule two for writing the perfect tetractys - they don't carry
any meaning. Conjunctions
are more useful - look what Kipling did with If! Perhaps you can rise
to the challenge and start a tetractys with a single-syllable conjunction.
Here are some suggestions
teeters
gracefully
on tiny feet -
as any ballerina, light and neat
our short days drift
- on thin threads
helpless
dance.
depends
on a strand
as frail as fine
as a migrating spider's silken line
. As windblown, random, as subject to chance,
our short days drift -
on thin threads
helpless
dance. 
If you're really ambitious you could write a tetractys series.
1. the correct syllable count,
2. meaningful words (e.g. not the, a , an) in the single-syllable line,
3. line breaks that make sense, ie. conform to normal syntax, not separating
words that quite obviously form a unit of meaning.
(If 2 and 3 did not apply, writing a tetractys would merely involve taking
a twenty-syllable line and chopping it arbitrarily into the requisite
lengths - it doesn't take a poet to do that!)
In addition to these the normal criteria for good poetry apply:
4. effective use of imagery,
5. effective choice of words,
6. appeal to the ear, certainly by rhythm, possibly by use of other sound
effects (rhyme, alliteration etc),
7. and lastly, and most importantly, appeal to the intellect and the emotions;
moving the reader to laughter, tears, deep thought, anger...
obese,
tottering,
the old man falls
towards eternity, hope guttering.
The priest is called, comes, too late muttering
words of comfort
the old man
cannot
hear
obese,
tottering,
the old man falls
towards eternity, hope guttering.
Too late, breathless, the young priest's muttering
words of comfort;
sputtering
last light
spent
he often found
his meanings
sadly
bent.
but often found
his meanings
sadly
bent.
what others hear
not being
what we
thought
but often found
his meanings
sadly
bent.
With misconceptions hapless lives are fraught,
what others hear
so seldom
matches
thought.
ringing -
tidal sound
washing ears clean
as white sand for other sounds and seasons
ringing -
tidal sound
washing ears clean
as white sand at low water...(?)
ringing -
tidal sound
leaving ears clean
as white sand washed by retreating waters.
ringing -
tidal sound
leaving ears clean
as white sand washed by retreating waters.
gently
breathe long...
Breathe!
Breathe long,
breathe gently
breathe in, breathe out
count the air in and out, mind empty.
Breathe long,
breathe gently.
Count the air in... count the air out... empty your mind... Heaven!
Breathe long,
breathe gently.
Count the air in...
count the air out... banish thought... Nirvana!
Breathe long.
Breathe gently.
Count the air in...
Count the air out... Banish thought... Nirvana
Breathe long,
breathe gently.
Count the air in...
Count the air out...
Banish all thought...
Nirvana!
Snail-mail's better,
they tell me.
But that's
bunk!
I'd sooner clear my e-mailbox of crap
with a mouse-click
here and there -
simply
zap
the lot to endless cyberspace - than bin
mountains of trash.
To burn - that's
mortal
sin!
| and | but | yet | so |
| both | since | for | as |
| though |
Adverbs There are some single-syllable adverbs. Here is a list. It's not complete but might help to get you started:
| now | then | here | there |
| much | straight | fast | hard |
| too | late | thus | so |
now then
here there how more
much straight fast hard less quite
too late thus so not
But, don't forget rule two!
Yet
again
his brave men
rose to combat...
I would say, is not a promising start - the phrase yet again cannot be read convincingly with a pause after yet. However, the lines
Yet,
once more,
his brave men
rose to combat...
though not inspired, do allow for such a pause.
A useful source of single-syllable words, should you need one, is a crossword dictionary which lists word by length. After 5-letters they may be difficult to spot. You may find some words that are completely new to you. 'Slued' for example, which means, I find, 'turned round' or 'tipsy':
Saturday Night, Sunday morning
Slued,
he sinks,
gloomily,
into the mire.
Of self-disgust he'll presently expire.
Hypocrite
"Shame,"
he said,
"you can't come."
The eyes betrayed
the sadness of his frown - I knew he lied
Ambition
Aim
too high
aim too low
or aim just so...
ambition never will be satisfied.
For more information refer to
Ray's
website 
