Prompt:

La Courante

La Courante is one of France’s first classic free verse poems. Two stanzas form this poem. The first stanza is a model for the second stanza (in a way, a kind of refrain is visible in the last three lines of the second stanza).

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐—บ:

~๐—˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€.
~๐—˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜†๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜: ๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ-๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿด-๐Ÿฐ-๐Ÿฑ-๐Ÿฐ-๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ.
~๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐˜†๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€: ๐—ฎ-๐—ฏ-๐—ฏ-๐—ฎ-๐—ฎ-๐—ฐ-๐—ฑ-๐—ฑ-๐—ฐ-๐—ฒ-๐—ฑ-๐—ฒ.
~๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐˜†๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ (lines with refrains) ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ.
~๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐˜†๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ต๐˜†๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ฎ. (๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐—บ.)

A sample poem by Bianca

Secrets of My Soul

Feeling useless… that’s me! (a)
As words won’t flow today; (b)
have I nothing to say? (b)
One word could change your mind and make you see, (a)
there is more in this world to discover, just be (a)
careful, will you, please, love? (c)
He leaves, without a word spoken (d)
I feel broken (d)
A little white dove (c)
Makes him come back (e)
kisses, as a token (d)
of his love for me, are placed in my neck. (e)

A quick love game start,
fires of love burning,
two different souls learning,
how to heal the scars in each’ others heart.
then rest, nights are short and day lifes are lived, apart…
Be still, let your heart speak
I know that words are hard to find
though in your mind
I’ll find what I seek.
Yes, please, come back
kisses, as a token,
do not ever stop! Kiss me in my neck.

(Note: This poem used a different syllable counter, so the count differs from the syllable counter Penmancy recommends. Use the one we are providing you with.)

  • Send in your entries,  as an attachment in a word document (.doc/.docx, any other file will not be published), to penmagica@gmail.com along with a 2-3 line bio (not required if previously sent).
  • The subject of your mail should be Entry for #PenMuse-54 (compulsory).
  • Along with your entry please send a suggested cover for your poem. (please send it as a separate attachment. Make sure it is a stock photo, no watermarks, and of high resolution –800 pixels and above). The elves at Penmancy are mighty pleased if a poem is accompanied by a cover.
  • Check your syllable count here.

Rules:

  1. The submitted poem must have a title (Keep it simple with no punctuation marks; all words more than 3 letters must be capitalised)
  2. There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit –though only the first submitted poem will be qualified for contention.
  3. Previously published or plagiarised works will not be considered for contention.
  4. Poems found to have been shared on another platform or blog before the declaration of results stand disqualified from the event, and the writer of such content stands to be disqualified for the next Penmancy event.
  5. In case a poem is received after the submission deadline, it shall be considered as a guest entry and shall not qualify for the event.
  6. Entries that don’t follow rules will be published and shared on the page and group but are disqualified for winning.

Winning criteria:

  • The winner will be chosen on the basis of the judges’ scores (out of 10)
    • creativity/content and originality, [12 points]
    • coherence of form and structure (harmony of words, presentation), [12 points]
    • clarity of imagery and language/grammar, [10 points]
    • emotional impact, [10 points]
    • topic/relevance to the theme, [6 points]
  • The entries adjudged by a panel of judges and event organisers shall be binding. Judges’ scores to be deemed final and may not be contested. Final scores are not disclosed to the participants.
  • The entries adjudged through this process shall be binding. No scores will be shared with the participants.
  • All writers are required to read and comment on 5 stories other than their own and encourage their fellow writers with valuable and constructive inputs. Comments like “nice”, “good work”, “brilliant piece”, etc. do not provide the necessary critique and are not helpful for anyone.
  •  Timelines-
    • The last date of submission is July 20, 2023 (Thursday)
    • Winners shall be announced on July 27, 2023 (Thursday)

The announcement of winners may be postponed or preponed depending on the number of entries received.

The winners of the event shall receive the book “The Sorcery of the Senses” by Tanima Das.

This book was extended for #BookNook Gift-a-book program by the author.


Below are the submissions