Q is for Quilt and Qadrilew

It's April, so the Blogging from AtoZ Challenge is in full swing. My theme is Watercolor and Words.  This year I am painting a watercolor to go with each letter and composing a poem to accompany it with a type of poetry that starts with the letter of the day.  I am mostly experimenting with the watercolors still, so don't expect perfection....

Clicking on the letter of the day will bring you to the main site which has links to get to other participants if you would like to go on an alphabetical adventure!

 

Today is Q, and I have done a watercolor for quilt and an accompanying Quadrilew.

Created by C. G. V. Lewis, the Quadrilew is a form of quatrain poem with an abab rhyming scheme, repeating lines, and contains an alternating syllable structure.

The first verse may either start with a five or six syllable line. If the choice is five then the 'sounding' syllable count is (and opposite if the count is six):

VERSE ONE,
Line 1, 5 syllables.
Line 2, 6 syllables.
Line 3, 5 syllables.
Line 4, 6 syllables.

VERSE TWO,
Line 1 is a REPEAT of line 2 of the FIRST verse and has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.

VERSE THREE,
Line 1 is a REPEAT of line 3 of the first verse, and has 5 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 6 syllables.

VERSE FOUR,
Line 1 which is a REPEAT of line 4 of the first verse, and has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.

If the first line of verse one has 6 syllables then the pattern is
Verse 1, 6565,
Verse 2, 5656,
Verse 3, 6565,
Verse 4 5656: (the rhyme pattern still being abab.)

For a longer poem, the next verse must be a completely fresh set of four lines, following the same pattern of rhyme and repeats.

This was a challenging poem.  The repeating lines were nice to have as a relief of having to think about that particular line, but it meant having to think ahead so much to what you wanted to rhyme with and how many syllables it had to be.  The first stanza becomes very important.  It is the beginning of each stanza thereafter.  So, big responsibility!  I rewrote this a couple of times, saving lines I wanted and rearranging their appearance in the poem.  But the good thing is, I love a challenge and a puzzle.  So I took way too much time out of my day enjoying this, but pretending that I didn't...do either of those things.  I did not spend too much time and I couldn't have enjoyed it.  I'd be lying.  So here it/they are.  I took too long on the painting, too.  But as least I didn't have to rework it.  It came out pretty much as I thought  it would.  And I'm not too unhappy with it.  There are parts I like, even.

 

Quilt

Cape a hero wears

red, blue and yellow scraps

patched together squares

so cozy taking naps

Red, blue, and yellow scraps

march on side by side

around me twice it wraps, 

long and plenty wide

       

Patched together squares

colorfully designed 

love worn, but who cares?

re-stuffed, re-sewn, relined

So cozy taking naps

no quilt’s quite like mine 

it’s not scridges and scraps

on the back it’s signed

By Donna JT Smith ©️2025