A 'tabb' is a poetic form labelled after John Banister Tabb (1845-1909),the Virgina born poet he created in his poem 'Evolution'..Fourteen other poetic forms from Banister Tabb's collection are exampled below.(Please also see my appendix below).
God triplet aaa 8 syllable lines
I see Thee in the distant blue;
But in the violet’s dell of dew,
Behold, I breathe and touch Thee too
Epiphany triplet aaa 4 syllable lines
Reason, have done!
Of thee I’ll none
While face to face I see the sun.
Be thine the ray
To point the way
In darkness: but, behold, ’tis day.
Should faith divine
Forbear to shine,
Again I’ll place my hand in thine.
For in thy sight
To walk aright
Is prelude to the perfect light.
Overflow quatrain aaaa etc 1/4/10/4
Hush!
With sudden gush
As from a fountain, sings in yonder bush
The hermit thrush.
Hark!
Did ever lark
With swifter scintillations fling the spark
That fires the dark?
Again,
Like April rain
Of mist and sunshine mingled, moves the strain
O’er hill and plain.
Strong
As love, O Song,
In flame or torrent sweep through Life along,
O’er grief and wrong.
God’s Likeness quatrain aabb 10/6/10/6
Not in mine own, but in my neighbor’s face,
Must I Thine image trace;
Nor he in his, but in the light of mine,
Behold thy Face Divine.
To a Songster quintain aabba 6 syllable lines
O little bird, I’d be
A poet like to thee,
Singing my native song—
Brief to the ear, but long
To love and memory.
The Shower quintain aabba 6/6/8/8/6
Against the royal blue,
A mist rebellious flew—
A night-born, wind-uplifted shade
That for an angry moment stayed,
Then wept itself away.
All in All sixain ababcc 6/4/6/4/8/8
We know Thee, each in part—
A portion small;
But love Thee, as Thou art—
The All in all:
For Reason and the rays thereof
Are starlight to the noon of Love.
Anticipation sixain aabccb 8/8/4/8/8/4
The master scans the woven score
Of subtle harmonies, before
A note is stirred;
And Nature now is pondering
The tidal symphony of Spring,
As yet unheard.
Bartimeus to the Bird sixain abab-b 10/4/10/4/10/4
Had I no revelation but thy voice,
No word but thine,
Still would my soul in certitude rejoice
That love divine
Thy heart, his hidden instrument, employs,
To waken mine.
Onset sixain aabccb 8/8/4/8/8/6
Lo, where the routed shadows pass,
Upon each lifted blade of grass
The tokens of a fray—
Pale life-drops from the heart of night,
Mute witnesses of sudden flight
Before the host of day.
A Fleeting Guest sixain aabccb 6/6/4/6/6/4
Through the foul arch of night
On airy pinions white
It came to me,
And in the smile of day
All beautiful it lay,
Yet pale to see.
Moments octet aabbccdd 7 syllable lines
Like the manna, mute as snow,
Swift the moments come and go,
Each sufficient for the needs
Of the multitude it feeds;
One to all, and all to one,
Superfluity to none,
Ever dying but to give
Life whereon alone we live.
Evolution octet a-a -b-b 7/3/7/3/7/3/7/3
Out of the dusk a shadow,
Then, a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
Then, a lark;
Out of the heart a rapture,
Then, a pain;
Out of the dead, cold ashes,
Life again.
The Twins octet aabbbccb 3/2/2/6/3/5/5/9
Are you lost,
Jack Frost?
Ah, no;
For a time to and fro
Must I go,
But a longer stay
Shall I make some day
When I come with my sister, the snow.
Going Blind ten lines ababcddcee 6/4/6/4/2/6/4/8/2/4
Back to the primal gloom
Where life began,
As to my mother’s womb
Must I a man
Return:
Not to be born again,
But to remain:
And in the School of Darkness learn
What mean
“The things unseen.”
APPENDIX I append some of my poems inspired by Tabb's forms ,they poems are my copyright and maybe used for educational purposes provided confirmation of their use is emailed to strandbg@aol.com.
THE SEARCH
Out of the dark,a glimmer,
Then a light:
Out of the sky,the mornng star,
Then a new sight;
Out of the night,to-morrow,
Then a new dawn;
Out of the wind,a sound,
New born
Inspired by John 3
SUDDENLY
Out of nowhere,an idea
Then image;
Out of this picture,a sentence,
Then a page;
Out of the verse,a sonnet,
Then a rhyme;
Out of this art,a hobby
So sublime
PRODIGAL
Out of error,a fear,
Then a lie:
Out of regret,a farewll,
Then a sigh;
Out of parting,a change,
Then a trial;
Out of reunion,a relief,
Grace-ful smile
