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.

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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

• The Tampa Review’s post on the Snam Suad
• Writer’s Digest

Recently

On My Blog and the Home Front

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

• Sunday Scribblings #214: Awesome Zen Questions to Fill the Cracks
• Tales Within Tales: The Magic of Layered Stories and More
• Poetic Pathways to Learning: One Letter at a Time

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

• It is National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day on the 18th, which also observes Tea for Two Tuesday (celebrated every year on the third Tuesday of March)
• Next up is National Chocolate Caramel Day on the 19th of March
• Followed by World Flour Day and National Ravioli Day on March 20th
• March 21st is National French Bread Day and National California Strawberry Day
• While the 22nd of March is National Bavarian Crepes Day 
• And the 23rd of March is National Chia Day, National Chip and Dip Day, National Tamale Day, and National Melba Toast Day!

Other Celebrations

• March 17th (being the third Monday of March) observes Act Happy Day. It is also Absolutely Incredible Kid Day and St. Patrick’s Day
• National Awkward Moments Day is on March 18th.
• While it is National Let’s Laugh Day and National Backyard Day on the 19th
• Followed by International Day of Happiness, National Jump Out Day, and World Frog Day on the 20th of March
• Next up, March 21st is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,  International Day of Colour, International Day of Forests, and World Down Syndrome Day. And National Common Courtesy Day, National Countdown Day, and National Fragrance Day
• The 22nd of March observes National Goof Off Day, World Water Day, and International Day of the Seal
• Followed by World Meteorological Day, National Near Miss Day, and National Puppy Day on March 23rd.

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