Magin_Edward-thesis

112
chosen to present each stanza individually so as to make comparison easy; any
interlocking rhymes that might exist between stanzas are not presented.
Note that there is no variation at all in the first three couplets, which are always
AA, BB, CC. After these, there is repetition of at least one of the couplet rhyme schemes
in either the third (stanza 2), fourth (stanza 1 and 4), or the fifth (stanza 3) couplet. The
M-dash (―) signifies a volta, a semantic shift that coincides with a change in the rhyme
pattern. 63 At each volta shift in Gerîanek Di Kurdistanê Da, ‘A Walk Through
Kurdistan,’ the person or thing to which the poet has spoken begins his, her or its reply,
which continues through line 14. In stanzas 1 and 4, the volta occurs with line 11; in the
other stanzas it occurs with line 9.
Table 18. Rhyme scheme of stanzas in BS2
Stanza Rhyme scheme
1 AABBCC--DDD'D'—EEEZ
2 AABBCC--C'C'—DDD'D'D'Z
3 AABBCC--DD—EEE'E'E'B
4 AABBCC--DDD'D'—EEEZ
5 AABBCC--B'B'—C'C'C''C''C''Z
The rhyme scheme in stanza 5 is the most concentrated. Two couplets have B-
rhymes and two couplets and the triplet having C-rhymes, which all combined give the
poem a robust ending. It is not surprising to see such an innovative form―uncommon to
Northern Kurdish poetry―among Sindî’s work, as he was among the first of the
Northern Kurdish poets in Iraq to write free verse poetry.
63 Boerger says the following concerning sonnets and the volta: “The standard sonnet is composed of
fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, in which a semantic shift generally occurs at the same point as there is
a shift in the rhyme scheme (Turco 2000:263-264). The point of shift is called the volta” (Boerger
2009:243). For details on traditional sonnet forms, see Boerger’s text.