…is a reverse of the form I invented not long ago. Rather than ABAC form with the final couplet a compressed version of the above, with the A rhymes being unique to each quatrain and hiding in each line of the final couplet, the reverse is done. For both the following examples, the unique rhymes are done in a shade of blue, and the rhymes that carry through the entire piece are in red and green. Here is the original form:
By any song, in night, that dost thou sing,
If with thy lips shalt sing, my dearest one;
Or make to sing my soul, thy touch doth bring;
Or strong thine arms surroundeth, sing my heart.And when thy smile doth sing, to heal, to rest;
And sing to fret the tyme away, undone
By song; yet still the finer am I blest
By music, by thy words, and by thine art.But only thus, thy song shouldst bid me sleep–
Thy song, my shelter, sweep away the sun,
I beg the promise of thy song, and weep
That shouldst thou hold mee fast, and ne’r us partUntil thy quiet fight–when hast thou won–
Requite the day, that thou expressed: Depart!
So the new form has quatrains of BACA form. This creates strong rhymes on the strong lines (lines 2 and 4 of each quatrain–or group of four lines) And also gives the compressed couplet a strong set of rhymes in the form EE, and where in B and C are internal to each of the two final line–or the couplet, as it is called, giving it the form (B) E (C) E.
Is it starlight–doth shimmer down from sky,
Bereft of cloud, that doth pretend such grace?
And is it moonlight, floating down, as show,
She doth, configuration’s subtle face–As though, to cover all, she doth thereby
Intrude, and douse these tiny candles–cool;
As her reflection, ripples undergo,
With counter-sparkle in a quiet pool?Is it lamplight–that she doth overfly
From out a window, for its calm, perform?
Or is it firelight, setting us aglow,
For which she doth abound, surrounding warm?Romantic, doth she try her hand, her charm
Protecting us, as though from storm, and harm.
David Emeron: Sonnets 