#20 Aubade Poems

This assignment was suggested by Kathryn Jones and is open through March 31, 2022.

ASSIGNMENT PURPOSE

The purpose of this assignment is to invite poets to compose and submit poems of the form known as “aubade,” traditionally a love poem celebrating or mourning the arrival of dawn. This form has also developed to include the love or loss of other objects of devotion as the morning arises or passes.

EXAMPLES

See examples at Poetry Foundation.

See the poems published so far.

FORMAL INTERESTS

We are specifically interested in poems that demonstrate careful attention to the elements of shape, line, music, comparison, and balance, and especially how those choices contribute to the cooperative harmony of structure and sentiment in the poem.

Poems that do not meet these interests may be declined. For more on this perspective, see the five formal causes of beauty in poetry.

We also challenge you to consider new choices you might take in audience and poetic form as it pertains to aspects of narrative perspective, shape, sound, repetition, and enjambment.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Poetry submissions should be saved in Microsoft Word document format and composed in Times New Roman, 12 point font. They should be attached to an email to editor@texaspoetryassignment.org and include within the body of the email a brief cover letter and a 50-word biography.

ACCEPTANCE AND PUBLICATION

This call is open through March 31, 2022. Accepted poems will be published beginning February 1, 2022.

PUBLICATION RIGHTS

Writers will retain all rights to their work published on this site.