I'm reading Sir Philip Sidney's work The Old Arcadia, which can only be described as charming. Pyrocles, a young adventuring prince, has fallen in love with the image of Philoclea, a beautiful princess. In order to penetrate her father's lands (he has, after the advice of an oracle, gone into seclusion and forbidden his daughter contact with any man besides the shepherds of Arcadia), Pyrocles becomes Cleophila, an Amazon. She loves Philoclea; Philoclea's mother Gynecia divines zir true sex and loves Cleophila; Basilius, Philoclea's father, does not and also loves zir; and Philoclea herself is not indifferent to the Amazon's charms, but is rather confused by her attraction. All very Shakespeareanly gender-blent, and full of passages like:

But therewith he [a lion molesting the party] fell down, and gave Cleophila leisure to take his head to carry it for a present to her lady Philoclea, who all this while, not knowing what was done behind her, kept on her course, as Arethusa when she ran from Alpheus, her light nymphlike apparel being carried up with the wind, that much of those beauties she would at another time have willingly hidden were presented to the eye of the twice-wounded Cleophila; which made Cleophila not follow her over hastily lest she should too soon deprive herself of that pleasure.

After the princess is caught and calmed, the shepherds, as is a good Arcadian shepherd's wont, pronounce eclogues. Which contest is accompanied by the following nota from Sir Philip:

The rules observed in English measured verses be these:

Consonant before consonant always long, except a mute and a liquid (as refrain), such indifferent.

Single consonants commonly short, but such as have a double sound (as lack, will, till) or such as the vowel before doth produce long (as hate, debate).

Vowel before vowel or diphthong before vowel always short, except such an exclamation as oh; else the diphthongs always long and the single vowels short.

Because our tongue being full of consonants and monosyllables, the vowel slides away quicklier than in Greek or Latin, which be full of vowels and long words. Yet are such vowerls long as the pronunciation makes long (as glory, lady), and such like as seem to have a diphthong sound (as show, blow, die, high.

Elisions, when one vowel meets with another, used indifferently....

Particles now long, now short (as but, or, nor, on, to).

And Sir Philip goes on to write sapphics with his newly-stated rules.

If mine eyes can speak to do hearty errand,
Or mine eyes' language she do hap to judge of,
So that eyes' message be of her received,
Hope, we do live yet.

Not wholly successful, I think, but certainly not to be despised.

Anyway, I mention this particularly to les autres pyrates. It's been a while since we've had a new form, having done limericks to death, resurrected them, and then buried them alive all during sophomore year. Double dactyls (higgledy-piggledies?) retain their bloom, but I, for one, am stuck on "Emily Dickinson". So I propose sapphics according to Sir Philip Sidney's rules.

(Someone else can start.)