Books, Current Events, Life, Lists, Poetry, Writing

Sunday Scribblings #215: The Wonderful Wee Snam Suad for Luck

March brings with it the vibrant spirit of Irish Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the rich traditions, stories, and rhythms of Ireland. And of course, with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner (literally!), what better way to embrace the occasion than with a wee bit of Irish poetry? This week, I’m bringing you Snam Suad – a concise Irish poetic form – which I am finding delightful.

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support. Please see the full disclosure for more information. I only recommend products I definitely would (or have already) use myself

Notepad and a pen over it with a cup of coffee next to it. words read Sunday Scribblings, and this is for Sunday Scribblings #215: The Wonderful Wee Snam Suad for Luck

Poetic Sundays: The Wonderful Wee Snam Suad for Luck

The Snám Suad is a wee bit of verse with an emphasis on rhyme. Oh, I do love using phrases like ‘wee bit of,’ ‘gift of the gab,’ ‘jammy(humorous reference to luck),’ or ‘may the road rise to meet you!’ How about you? And I am wondering how or why I did not chance upon this form earlier, but Begorrah, wasn’t I jammy as a four-leaf clover when I stumbled upon the Snam Suad now! It’s like finding a pot of gold at the end of a literary rainbow, so it is!

The Snam Suad Poetic Form

The Snám Suad (pronounced sNaao Sooud) is an ancient Irish poetic form dating back to at least the 11th century. Its name literally means “swimming of the sages,” but it’s poetically interpreted as “poetic floating.”

This concise form consists of eight lines (an octostich) with three syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is aabcdddc, with lines 4 and 8 each being a single three-syllable word. The Snam Suad uses both alliteration and consonance within (see next section for more), and incorporates two key Celtic poetic features:

  1. Cywddydd (harmony of sound): Using alliteration, consonance, and assonance.
  2. Dunadh: Beginning and ending the poem with the same word, syllable, phrase, or meaning.

The Snam Suad’s Characteristics

At its most basic, the snam suad’s characteristics are that it is:

  • Stanzaic: an octostich (one eight-line stanza)
  • Syllabic: three syllable lines where L4 and L8 must be single three-syllable words
  • Rhymed: aabcdddc
  • one that uses alliteration and consonance (try to incorporate these to the best you can)
    • L2 & L3 share consonance
    • L3 & L4, L4 & L7, and L6 & L7 share alliteration
    • L7 is alliterative
  • written using the concepts of cywddydd and dúnadh 

My Attempts

This form is tougher than it looks actually, and while I did not meet every requirement in both these below, I tried to meet the basic ones – eight lines, three syllables each, L4 and L8 are single words, some alliteration and consonance where needed (so cywddydd) and dúnadh too…

Mother’s Treasures
Happiness
I surmise –
my starlight!
Marvelous!
Moonlight too,
my boy true!
Mommy’s two –
happiness!!
~ Vidya Tiru @ ladyinreadwrites

Spring
Buds blooming
Bees buzzing
Birds tweeting
flourishing
bright flowers
rain showers
empowers
blossoming
~ vidya tiru @ ladyinreadwrites

References, h/t, Further Reading

Recently

On My Blog and the Home Front

These posts made their way out into the world on my blog this past week:

Upcoming

On My Blog & Homefront

As always, hope to get a couple of posts out here. And I am looking forward to my kiddos being back home for their spring break!!!

This Week’s Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

  • Literary birthdays this week of March include: 17th is Amitava Kumar and Penelope Lively; March 18th celebrates John Updike’s birthdate; the 19th is Irving Wallace; Lois Lowry and Louis Sachar on the 20th of March; and Phyllis McGinley on the 21st; Billy Collins, James Patterson, and Louis L’Amour on March 22nd; Jonathan Ames on the 23rd of March
  • International Read To Me Day is on the 19th!
  • Then it is World Storytelling Day on the 20th of March, and this year’s theme is ‘Deep Water’
  • The 20th also happens to be Bibliomania Day. On March 20, 1990, Stephen Blumberg, aka the Book Bandit, was arrested for stealing books worth US$5.3 million (23,600 of them, and worth more than double today)
  • Followed by World Poetry Day and World Puppetry Day on the 21st of March
  • The third week of March observes World Folktales & Fables Week (March 16 – 22, 2025)

Foodie Celebrations

Other Celebrations

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month? Or if you write a few fable poems, do share them with me!

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *