Depiction of a leprechaun.‘The Leprechaun’: A Saint Patrick’s Day Poem by Cheryl Corey The Society March 17, 2023 Culture, Humor, Poetry 13 Comments . The Leprechaun Come mid-March, the leprechaun Glides up and o’er the rainbow, Playful as a unicorn That’s prancing in a meadow. With greedy eyes glimmering, And shim’ry as a peacock, He slides to earth, shimmying, And lands among the shamrock. “Where, O where’s me pot-o-gold?” Those greedy eyes, now staring, See but pots of marigold, And quick he takes to swearing. For a spell he languishes, Then sinks in fits of bawling, Whereupon he vanishes Until next March comes calling. . . Cheryl Corey is a Connecticut poet. She is also an author of short stories, a novella, and recently completed a novel. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 13 Responses Paul Buchheit March 17, 2023 Fun poem, Cheryl. I’ll have to read it again later, after a few beers! Reply Russel Winick March 17, 2023 Perfect! Love it! Thank you Cheryl. Reply Brian A Yapko March 17, 2023 I enjoyed this very charming poem, Cheryl. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Reply Norma Pain March 17, 2023 Happy St. Patrick’s Day Cheryl and thank you for this very cute and fun poem. Reply Roy Eugene Peterson March 17, 2023 I loved the “pot-o-gold” being only the marigolds! Nicely done and cute! Reply Cheryl Corey March 17, 2023 Thanks to everyone for your kind words. Since this is an Irish holiday, I used an Irish form called “ae freislighe”, written in quatrains of seven syllables per line; lines 1 & 3 rhyming with three syllable words; lines 2 & 4 rhyming with two syllable words. The final line is supposed to repeat or echo the beginning. Reply Joshua C. Frank March 17, 2023 The concept of 2- or 3-syllable rhymes as part of a form is intriguing. In classic French poetry, there is a preference for rhymes as “rich” as possible, that is, with as many sounds at the end of the line as possible (there’s no concept of falling rhymes as in English, only “feminine rhymes” with the -e at the end). An English example of a rich rhyme would be star/guitar (because they share the ending -tar and not just the -ar required for a “sufficient rhyme”). A very rich rhyme has even more sounds at the end in common, such as guitar/sitar. (A falling rhyme in English, such as calling/falling, would not be richer than a rising rhyme such as call/fall, because in English, we would only count this for the final stressed syllable.) Also, classic French poetry has a preference for alternating masculine and feminine rhymes (those with no -e at the end and those with one); in English, their counterparts are rising and falling rhymes, sometimes called by their French names of masculine and feminine. Rich rhymes are harder to do (without forcing them) in English than in French, but I still try to use them when I can. Reply Jeff Eardley March 17, 2023 Love it Cheryl. Glad to share today with your wistful, happy poem today. We’re all singing, “Black Velvet Band” over here. Best wishes. Reply C.B. Anderson March 17, 2023 Leprechauns are known to be rather cranky. Perhaps it’s because their job is to make shoes for all of the fairies. I’m sometimes a bit cranky too — perhaps that’s because I’m part Irish (my maternal grandmother’s surname was McCarthy). Reply Joshua C. Frank March 17, 2023 Love this one, Cheryl! Happy St. Patrick’s day. Reply Margaret Coats March 18, 2023 Fine-fingered wee poem with adroit leprechaun character to it! Glad you employed and explained the Irish form, as I value all kinds of lyric, but this is not one I would have figured out. Reply Cheryl Corey March 18, 2023 Thank you, Margaret. Given my proclivity for meter and end-stopped rhyme, I struggled with the form, but I think that any time we push ourselves out of our comfort zones, we’re the better for it. One of the goals I’ve set for myself is to work in different forms this year. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant March 21, 2023 Cheryl, I love everything about this poem the intrigue of the lyric form, the cheeky leprechaun’s shenanigans, and the big smile it brings with it. Thank you for my St. Patrick’s Day poetic fix! I hope you had a good one! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Paul Buchheit March 17, 2023 Fun poem, Cheryl. I’ll have to read it again later, after a few beers! Reply
Brian A Yapko March 17, 2023 I enjoyed this very charming poem, Cheryl. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Reply
Norma Pain March 17, 2023 Happy St. Patrick’s Day Cheryl and thank you for this very cute and fun poem. Reply
Roy Eugene Peterson March 17, 2023 I loved the “pot-o-gold” being only the marigolds! Nicely done and cute! Reply
Cheryl Corey March 17, 2023 Thanks to everyone for your kind words. Since this is an Irish holiday, I used an Irish form called “ae freislighe”, written in quatrains of seven syllables per line; lines 1 & 3 rhyming with three syllable words; lines 2 & 4 rhyming with two syllable words. The final line is supposed to repeat or echo the beginning. Reply
Joshua C. Frank March 17, 2023 The concept of 2- or 3-syllable rhymes as part of a form is intriguing. In classic French poetry, there is a preference for rhymes as “rich” as possible, that is, with as many sounds at the end of the line as possible (there’s no concept of falling rhymes as in English, only “feminine rhymes” with the -e at the end). An English example of a rich rhyme would be star/guitar (because they share the ending -tar and not just the -ar required for a “sufficient rhyme”). A very rich rhyme has even more sounds at the end in common, such as guitar/sitar. (A falling rhyme in English, such as calling/falling, would not be richer than a rising rhyme such as call/fall, because in English, we would only count this for the final stressed syllable.) Also, classic French poetry has a preference for alternating masculine and feminine rhymes (those with no -e at the end and those with one); in English, their counterparts are rising and falling rhymes, sometimes called by their French names of masculine and feminine. Rich rhymes are harder to do (without forcing them) in English than in French, but I still try to use them when I can. Reply
Jeff Eardley March 17, 2023 Love it Cheryl. Glad to share today with your wistful, happy poem today. We’re all singing, “Black Velvet Band” over here. Best wishes. Reply
C.B. Anderson March 17, 2023 Leprechauns are known to be rather cranky. Perhaps it’s because their job is to make shoes for all of the fairies. I’m sometimes a bit cranky too — perhaps that’s because I’m part Irish (my maternal grandmother’s surname was McCarthy). Reply
Margaret Coats March 18, 2023 Fine-fingered wee poem with adroit leprechaun character to it! Glad you employed and explained the Irish form, as I value all kinds of lyric, but this is not one I would have figured out. Reply
Cheryl Corey March 18, 2023 Thank you, Margaret. Given my proclivity for meter and end-stopped rhyme, I struggled with the form, but I think that any time we push ourselves out of our comfort zones, we’re the better for it. One of the goals I’ve set for myself is to work in different forms this year. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant March 21, 2023 Cheryl, I love everything about this poem the intrigue of the lyric form, the cheeky leprechaun’s shenanigans, and the big smile it brings with it. Thank you for my St. Patrick’s Day poetic fix! I hope you had a good one! Reply