We have reached the end of our summer poetry unit. I hope you all had fun waxing poetic. I’ve certainly enjoyed reading your clever creations. I’ve decided to end this unit with a retro repost from 2013. I’ve updated it a bit, since I’ve learned a few things since then. I hope you enjoy it.

Ever heard of doggerel? Let’s look it up.

From Dictionary.com: doggerel

  1. a. comic verse, usually irregular in measure
    b. ( as modifier ): a doggerel rhythm
  2. nonsense; drivel

From the Online Etymology Dictionary: doggerel
late 14c. (adj.); 1630s (n.), probably from dog + pejorative suffix -rel and applied to bad poetry perhaps with a suggestion of puppyish clumsiness, or being fit only for dogs. Attested as a surname from mid-13c., but the sense is not evident.

Basically, for us novelists, the poems and songs many of us write for our books can sometimes be called doggerel. Don’t be offended that the definition of doggerel calls our stunning words “bad poetry.” It’s just that, for the most part, we usually aren’t trying to write poems that have poetic form or rhyme scheme patterns. Though now that we’ve practiced a bit and understand many different types of poetry, we certainly could challenge ourselves to do it right.

Still, generally speaking, most poems or songs that have been written within fantasy novels don’t usually stagger the literary world. Yet sometimes doggerel is still quite entertaining. Here is one you may recognize:

Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates—
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!

Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Splash the wine on every door!

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;
Pound them up with a thumping pole;
And when you’ve finished if any are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!

That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!
So, carefully! carefully with the plates!

I actually had quite a bit of fun writing doggerel for my Blood of Kings trilogy. Here are a few of my favorites.

A song Achan sings to distract himself from the lure of Darkness:

Image from the To Darkness Fled book trailer. Click here to watch.

Hail the Piper

Hail the piper, fiddle, fife,
The night is young and full of life.
The Corner teems with ale and song.
And we shall dance the whole night long.

Hear the pretty maiden sing,
Hair and ribbons all flowing.
She can take my heart away,
By her side I long to stay.

And here is the song Achan learns in Berland, the love song that Yumikak sang to him. I put this one to music, Unfortunately, I’ve lost the recordings I made when I moved my website. Someday, perhaps, I’ll re-record.

Image from the To Darkness Fled book trailer. Click here to watch.

View Not My Face
 

View not my face, I am undone beside you.
The beating of my heart will not cease,
Whilst I am near you, whilst I am near you.
Pity on my heart, from the day I first saw you.
Your pleasing face burns my memories,
Whenever we’re apart, whenever we’re apart.
Though I am nothing to you, I love you, I do.
How shall I make it known, that I love you?

Interesting tidbit about View Not My Face. I had written the lyrics, written music, and recorded the song before I realized this was a Berlander song, yet my lyrics didn’t reflect the way they spoke. This is why I added the “I do” after the line “Though I am nothing to you, I love you, I do.”

This is what sometimes happens in the editing phase.

And finally a song from book three—with spoilers! This is another that I put to music and recorded. Another that I lost the audio file. However, this one is used briefly in the book trailer some of my readers made for book three, From Darkness Won, a book trailer that I got to be in. Leighton and his sister Ness played The Pawn Our King much better than I did. The song clip is 00:27 in the trailer.

And here are the lyrics.

The Pawn Our King

He grew up here in Sitna Town,
The hand his life was dealt.
He milked the goats and fetched the wood
Or Poril gave him the belt.

The pawn our king, sing merry, merry, merry.
The pawn our servant king.
For he was once the lowest of all strays
And now claims to be king.
Then the Great Whitewolf took him up,
Taught him to use a sword.
He fought quite well, his blade struck true,
And blood from Esek poured.
Remember us, sing merry, merry, merry.
Remember us, O king.
For you were once the lowest of all strays
And now you’ll be our king.

Ever write doggerel for your books? Feel free to share some in the comments. And if you never have, give it a whirl. You might find it a lot of fun. 

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms, and the author of several young adult fantasy novels including the Blood of Kings trilogy. She loves teaching about writing. She blogs at goteenwriters.com and also posts writing videos on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. Jill is a Whovian, a Photoshop addict, and a recovering fashion design assistant. She grew up in Alaska without running water or electricity and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. Find Jill online at jillwilliamson.com or on InstagramYouTubeFacebookPinterest, and Twitter.