“What’s that?”

It is many things and has many applications, so for a British Bank Holiday let’s focus on a single creative application for you to have some fun (maybe even in the Sun.)  Ray Stebbing, the inventor of a fresh poetic form says this:

"Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1, 2, 3, 4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own - Tetractys. The Tetractys could be Britain's answer to the haiku. Its challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables." 

A Tetractys poem doesn’t have to rhyme. The beauty is in the form.

1 syllable in the first line.

2 syllables in the second..

3 syllables in the third line…

4 syllables making up the fourth….

And 10 syllables in the fifth and final line of the first stanza.

‘Moodscope’ has 2 syllables.

I double-check my syllable count using:

https://www.howmanysyllables.com/syllable_counter/

Thus ‘Moodscope’ could be the seed for the second line.

My

Moodscope

Scores daily

My mental health

Capturing my mood to track my progress

And, as another example:

Sun

Shining

Smiling down

Upon my skin

Bestowing beatific bliss within

We understand that creativity, poetry, and mental stimulation are good for our wellbeing, thus I offer this form and a gentle challenge to create your own Tetractys.  Please share your creations. No competition. No judgment. Only the joy of creating and sharing.

Lex

A Moodscope member