Today’s form is called The Yeats, inspired by well, William Butler Yeats. And have two books for the letter Y, both titled You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You, with different subtexts!

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The Yeats

The Yeats is one of many poetic forms inspired by a specific poem by a poet or a poet’s style of writing some poems, and then named after the poets themselves. Thanks to the resource at PoetryMagnumOpus which lists these forms.

What is The Yeats Poetic Form?

As you can deduce from what I mentioned earlier, The Yeats is a verse form inspired by William Butler Yeats. It is patterned after a specific poem by him – Where My Books Go.

The Yeat’s Characteristics

So The Yeat’s elements are that it is:

• stanzaic: an octastich, a poem in 8 lines.
• rhymed: rhyme scheme is  xaxaxaxa, with odd numbered lines having falling end syllables.
• metric: accentual 3 heavy stresses per line.

The Yeats Attempt From My Side

In an effort to combine NaPoWriMo’s Day 29 prompt, I went (more than) slightly off-form for this one. Not all lines have only or even 3 heavy stresses, plus not all odd-numbered lines have the feminine or falling end syllables, and I have it as two octastiches. But … my words took me elsewhere and I will rework this one to fit the form at a later stage (maybe, never, possibly)

The Day 29 Prompt: Write a poem in which you muse on the gifts you received at birth — whether they are actual presents, like a teddy bear, or talents – like a good singing voice – or circumstances – like a kind older brother, as well as a “curse” you’ve lived with (your grandmother’s insistence on giving you a new and completely creepy porcelain doll for every birthday, a bad singing voice, etc.). 

h/t and further reading

• PoetryMagnumOpus
• Where My Books Go

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The Y Books

I have a few other books with similar titles at home already, like this one: You Read to Me & I’ll Read to You: Stories to Share from the 20th Century that I talked about in an earlier AtoZ post (note that this is a collection of stories and poems)

You Read to me, I’ll Read to You

I didn’t mean to do this, but ended up doing it anyway. Here is my review in verse for this one:

A little bit Shel Silverstein-esque and somewhat Edward Lear-y,
these poems range from the somewhat serious to just plain silly!
You will learn to stay away from lions and tigers and bears,
oh my! Also sharks, and even things-that-explode, are things to beware..
There will be rhymes almost-philosophical
And ones so everyday, and so very typical.
You might find that the poems marked in blue,
the ones meant for a child to read, and not you,
might be too long, or too hard for little ones
well, the answer is easy, just lend your tones!
You will find reading together is loads of fun,
and too soon, you will see that the reading is done.
Granted, some of the poems might seem (are) dated. But then again,
these poems, written in the 60s, their times they contain.
So keep that in mind as you read this tome,
and you will find that they’re all wonderful poems!
Last but not least, are Gorey’s delightful sketches,
they are Gorey-top-notch, and so very humorous!

Additional Notes and In Summary

Some of the ones I really loved, and that I feel, stand the test of time, include, One Day (reminded me of Silverstein’s Lazy Jane), Chang McTang McQuarter Cat, “My Cat, Mrs Lick-a-chin,” What Did You Learn at the Zoo? (we learned what we wanted to, such a profound line in the midst of silly lines), and this one – A Short Checklist of Things to Think About Before Being Born.

A fun read (but keep in mind the times it was written in…)

Get it here.

You Read to me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Mother Goose Tales to Read Together

Description

Join the fun as familiar Mother Goose characters take starring roles in this latest addition to the New York Times bestselling series YOU READ TO ME, I’LL READ TO YOU. Designed with budding readers in mind, each of the tales is set in three columns with color-coded type as a script for two voices to read separately and together. These tales with a twist will delight and amuse young readers!

My Thoughts

Such delightful twists to the familiar. It starts off with a brilliant Introduction: also done in a ‘you read to me, I’ll read to you’ format while explaining the how to read to each other at the same time! Poems/rhymes include playful adaptations of classic favorites like Humpty Dumpty, Old King Cole, Little Miss Muffet, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and more. And then ‘The End’ that is once again so very cleverly done! Mary Ann Hoberman’s laureate skills shine all the way through!

Of course, I can’t forget the illustrations! Michael Emberly’s illustrations simply pop with color and are full of fun details that enhance the reading experience.

Perfect to read aloud in pairs, or maybe in groups too!

Get it here.

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear readers, have you read the featured books? Or any similar reads? I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations. What do you think about the ya hoo form? Will you attempt it yourself?

Previous posts for these challenges (the A2Z, NaPoWriMo and UBC) are in links below.

Day 0  Day 1 – A  Day 2 – B  Day 3  Day 4 – C  Day 5 – D  Day 6 – E  Day 7 – F   Day 8 – G   Day 9 – H   Day 10  Day 11 – I  Day 12 – J  Day 13 – K  Day 14 – L  Day 15 – M  Day 16 – N Day 17  Day 18 – O  Day 19 – P   Day 20 – Q  Day 21 – R  Day 22 – S  Day 23 – T  Day 24  Day 25 – U  Day 26 – V  Day 27 – W Day 28 – X

Linking up to BlogChatterA2Z, Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge, NaPoWriMo, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge