Chanso

By | | , ,
Chanso
Type:
Structure, Metrical Requirement, Repetitive Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Other Requirement, Isosyllabic
Description:
Another French isosyllabic form of either five or six stanzas plus an envoy. A Chanso must be very regular in structure. The same number of syllables in each line, the stanzas all the same, the envoy being like the last half of a stanza, the rhyme scheme the same, but beyond that, you get to make it up. The double ballade and double ballade supreme would both be considered to fit this form. So would any number of other variations.
Origin
French
Copyright © 2001-2013 by Charles L. Weatherford. All rights reserved.
__________________
Canso, Chanso, Chanson French, Occitan and Provincial love songs, made popular in 12th century Europe by the troubadours which constantly strove for originality and perfection of form. The lines between the 3 terms is blurred. The Chanson is believed to be the inspiration for the ItalianCanzone. The verse often exalted a lady love. Courtly Compliment is a sub genre of the Chanson.
The Canso, Chanso or Chanson are:
  • stanzaic, usually 5 or 6 nonce stanzas of identical pattern.
  • expected to be original in form. The metric length of the line, the number of lines in a stanza, the rhyme scheme was expected to be different from anything that had gone before.
  • often ended by an envoy or tornada structured in the same pattern as the last half of the previous stanzas. (The Occitan tornada is a dedication to a patron or friend added at the end of verse while the French envoy is a summation of the theme added to the end of the verse. )
My thanks to Mr. Weatherford, and to Ms.  Van Gorder for their fine resources.





Example Poem
 
Cold-cuts      (Chanso)
I planned to lunch at home today
and get away from office noise.
A hot pastrami sounds so good,
I know I would enjoy it much
and then a nap would sound okay.
I stacked thin slices pretty high
I don’t know why but thinner works;
I slathered mustard on the meat
then set the heat at one-oh-one.
It smelled so good on fresh warm rye.
I was about with great delight
to take a bite when cell-phone chimes
demanded my reluctant ear
a financier it seems was keen
to cure my future’s fiscal plight.
He was informed and spoke at length
of safety, strength ,and asset growth,
with fortune favoring the bold;
my sandwich cold he said good-bye
for like I said he spoke at length.
I heated up my meal once more
then at the door there came a knock
(a lady looking for my wife),
who for the life of me I know
I didn’t know, I stalled therefore.
Two more phone calls and one more knock,
by then the clock showed time to get
me back to join the working fold
and eat my cold repast at last-
warm lunch at home  is such a crock!
© Lawrencealot – January 22, 2014
Visual Template
This is simply a template relating to the poem above.
A poet can use any line length or meter he wants, so their can be no “correct template.”
In this case I used iambic tetrameter, interlaced rhyme, and a unique rhyme scheme.
Note.  The specifications at the top call for repetition which I have not employed.

Our Camelot: In Memory of Lawrencealot

Tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.