China
Town quickly comes alive
Stalls mushroom all over the street
Stray dogs beg for food to survive
Cats scoot from under trampling feet.
Drums echo a steady bong-beat
Clothes are of mixed hue and sizes
While husbands wait in calm defeat
Women still gripe over prices.
Stalls mushroom all over the street
Stray dogs beg for food to survive
Cats scoot from under trampling feet.
Drums echo a steady bong-beat
Clothes are of mixed hue and sizes
While husbands wait in calm defeat
Women still gripe over prices.
Film-stars cause a sudden revive
Butchers’ hands are bloodied with meat
Kids in mothers’ clasp, twist and dive
Policemen chase thieves in doomed feat.
Lanterns are bought that wealth surfeit
Dragons prance with precise gestures
While customers sweat in the heat
Women still gripe over prices.
Butchers’ hands are bloodied with meat
Kids in mothers’ clasp, twist and dive
Policemen chase thieves in doomed feat.
Lanterns are bought that wealth surfeit
Dragons prance with precise gestures
While customers sweat in the heat
Women still gripe over prices.
Pineapples, for fortune to thrive
Oranges make one’s future sweet
Bamboo shoots, for vigour and vive
Poultry and fish, a sumptuous treat.
Oranges make one’s future sweet
Bamboo shoots, for vigour and vive
Poultry and fish, a sumptuous treat.
That kinsfolk at dinner may meet
Work
is finished before darkness
As hawkers pack up their wares
neat
Women still gripe over prices.
‘Love letters’ are
snacks that kids eat
Red packets change hands with gladness
As New
Year nears with festive greet
Women still gripe over prices.
19 Jan 2009
The ‘true’ ballade -three eight-line stanzas and a concluding four-line stanza with a consistent meter.
Rhyme scheme is
ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC
where C is a refrain.
where C is a refrain.
(Each
line in this ballade is made up of 8 syllables)
Image courtesy of TeddyBear[Picnic] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of TeddyBear[Picnic] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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