Lilt – An invented form created by Mary Lou Healy, aka Mlou of Allpoetry
It is:
A 16 LINE poem, consisting of four quatrain stanzas
Accentual with odd lines of each stanza having 3 stressed syllable
and even lines having two stressed syllables
Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef ghgh
Rentrement requirement: The 2nd line of each stanza becomes part of the first line of the next stanza
and the 2nd Line of the final stanza, is the first part of the first Stanza’s first line.
This form employs a rentrement or rentrament (fr.) which is the repetition of a phrase from one line as a line elsewhere in the poem. The device is also found in the Rondeau and English Ballet.
Note, while only the number of stressed syllable in a line is important,
The poet may get there using any metric scheme, or none.
NEW: After I had posted my double Lilt, the inventor has decided to allow unlimited Lilts to be strung together as a single poem, if the author observes the rule of linking the final stanza in the poem, to the first line of the poem.