Pretty Ugly Words

Form: Luc Bat
The luc bat is a Vietnamese poetic form that means “six-eight.”

Number of Lines: min 8 lines


Rules:
The poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables.
This poem is interesting in its rhyme scheme that renews at the end of every eight-syllable line and rhymes on the sixth syllable of both lines.

The odd lines (1,3,5,etc) are six sound units and the even lines (2,4,6 etc) are eight sound units long, hence the title. The rhyming scheme is simple also. The last word (sixth sound unit) of the odd lines rhymes with the sixth sound unit of the even line and the eighth sound unit rhymes with the sixth unit of the next odd line. The final even line, linking back to the first line.

Meter:
Alternating lines of six and eight syllables

Rhyme Scheme:
Here’s a diagram of how the first few lines of luc bat poems should rhyme:

xxxxxA
xxxxxAxB
xxxxxB
xxxxxBxC
xxxxxC
xxxxxCxD
xxxxxD
xxxxxDxE