Tag Archives: isosyllabic

Trine

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Trine
Type: Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Isosyllabic, Simple
Description: A nine-lined rhymed poem. It is isosyllabic, and being French, goes well with Alexandrines.
Origin: French
Schematic: aabbccabc
Rhythm/Stanza Length: 9
Line/Poem Length:          9

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/003/320.shtml

My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his years of work on the wonderful Poetrybase resource.

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The Trine is a verse form which apparently originated in France and is described at Poetry Base. Trine is Anglo-French meaning “three each” and in astronomy it is three planets 120 degrees adjacent to each other forming an equilateral triangle.

The Trine is:
• a poem in 9 lines made up of 3 rhymed couplets followed by a tercet.
• isosyllabic, (same syllable count), using the French Heroic line, the Alexandrine, would be appropriate but I don’t think it is a prerequisite. (I use 9 syllable lines in the example below.)
• rhymed, rhyme scheme a a b b c c a b c.

Trifling Trinity by Judi Van Gorder

High pitch chatter comes out of the dark,
a racing rat skitters through the park.
On his tail a dragon breathing fire
chasing the rodent into a briar.
While up in a palm a monkey cheered
and clapped his hands thinking nothing weird.
This gay game they play I must remark,
for some is nothing to aspire,
though for this three it’s fun commandeered.

One trine in Chinese Astrology is the Rat, the Dragon and the Monkey. The Trine is also the name of a popular Video Game, although I have no idea what the theme of the game is.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/1847-trine/

My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Rhetorical Answers (Trine)

“If all the world is but a stage,”
I asked a wise and wizened sage,
“where will the audiences sit?”
and one more question ‘fore I quit,
as I assume you’re not adverse,
Do backwards poets write inverse?”
“Rhetorical requests engage,
and spurs one to access one’s wit,
I’ve heard some good, some bad, some worse.”

© Lawrencealot – August 26, 2014
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Trine

Rispetto

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rispetto, ( Italian:: “respect,” ) plural rispetti,  a Tuscan folk verse form, a version of strambotto. Therispetto lyric is generally composed of eight hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) lines. In its earliest form the rhyme scheme was usually abababcc. Later, the scheme ababccdd became more prominent, and other variations can also be found.
The form reached its pinnacle of both artistic achievement and popularity in the 14th and 15th centuries, particularly in the work of Politian, to whom some 200 rispetti are ascribed. Lorenzo de’ Medicialso wrote rispetti.
Pasted from <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/504518/rispetto>

A Rispetto, an Italian form of poetry, is a complete poem of two rhyme quatrains with strict meter. The meter is usually iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of abab ccdd. A Heroic Rispetto is written in Iambic pentameter, usually featuring the same rhyme scheme.
Pasted from <http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/rispetto.html>

Restated and consolidated rules:
The Rispetto is:
a poem in an octave, made up of 2 quatrains.
most often written in iambic tetrameter 
or it can be syllabic with lines between 8 and 12 syllables.
rhymed rhymed ababccdd or abababcc or abab cddc
 
The Heroic Rispetto is:
a poem in an octave made up of 2 quatrains.
always written in iambic pentameter.
rhymed ababccdd or abababcc or abab cddc
It appears that either may be separate quatrains or
a single octave as the poet prefers.

Example Poem
Heroic Rispetto by Lawrecealot
Rispetto Be or Not to Be
Rispetto is an old Italian form.
It’s English use has been neglected here.
It’s not in books that are the writers’ norm.
But searching yielded samples quite unclear.
What once was standard tetrameter changed.
It now can stretch to hexameter, dear.
If you have penned two stanza poems arranged
in quatrains your Rispetto may be here.
(c) Lawrencealot – April 16, 2012
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Rispetto

Bref Double

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Bref Double
Type:
Structure, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Isosyllabic
Description:
A fourteen-line French form. Like many French forms, the rules are a bit complex. It is composed of 3 quatrains and a couplet, all isosyllabic. It has three rhymes: a, b, and c. It has five lines that are not part of the rhyme scheme. The c rhyme ends each quatrain. The a and b rhymes are found twice each somewhere within the three quatrains and once in the couplet.
Impressions:
Have fun; it’s French.
Origin:
French
Schematic:
Some sample rhyme schemes would be:
abxc abxc xxxc ab,
xaxc xbxc xbac ba,
xabc xaxc xbxc ab,
etc.
(abxcabxcxxxcab, xaxcxbxcxbacba, xabcxaxcxbxcab) )(14 lines)
Rhythm/Stanza Length:
4
Line/Poem Length:
14
Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/25.shtml>

My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his fine Poetrybase resource.
My example poem
A Merchant Mariner     (Bref Double)
A soliloquy mumbled while aboard a ship
addressed issues encountered by conscripted men:
the comforts found in surroundings I’d known, no thoughts
of danger real or imagined- not everyday.
With thoughts of carnality, adventure, hardship,
rewards of sharing bounty, succeeding and then
returning home after I’ve traveled, unraveled
the wonderful mystr’ies that might hold me in sway.
The captain, querulous, demands most constant yield
from every man. The old first  mate so hates the king
he wrings more than mere duty from men on his watch.
The nation we’re helping will repay us some day.
I came home a hero. It was quite a long trip.
But now that those days are passed, I’d do it again.
© Lawrencealot – April 18, 2014
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Dansa

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Dansa
The dansa is an Occitan verse form i.e. it’s from the troubadour territory of southern France. All the verses except the first are the same: they rhyme aabb with the last line a repeated refrain. The first verse has five lines, and consists of the refrain followed by four lines similar to all the other verses. No particular metre is essential, but Skelton says six-syllable lines are common in Occitan verse, so that’s what I used.
A Load of Rot
Mulching is the future!
Let those clippings lie there,
Proving how much you care.
For lawns needing nurture,
Mulching is the future.
Don’t clear up that cut grass!
Lie down; let the urge pass.
Be at one with nature –
Mulching is the future.
You need no-one’s pardon;
This is your own garden.
For your private pasture,
Mulching is the future.
Your leisure is well-earned.
Relax; don’t be concerned.
Look, see the big picture:
Mulching is the future.
What you leave will decay.
It will provide one day
Nutrients and moisture.
Mulching is the future.
Don’t get up; better far
To stay right where you are.
As with any creature,
Mulching is your future.
I saw a lawnmower on sale with the slogan “Mulching is the future”. I found it a catchy slogan but a depressing thought. Still, there had to be a poem in it… It was just a question of finding a suitable verse form. I think the dansa was a fair choice.
I cheated slightly by altering one word in the final repetition of the refrain.  Poetic licence.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site.
My example poem-
Since Bob used a slogan, I did too.  Though meter optional, I chose iambic trimeter.
Intrigue     (Dansa)
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
If you but only knew.
Instead you have no clue.
So what is it to be?
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
A guy, you can just ask,
it’s such a simple task
It can’t sound like a plea,
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
Why should you really care
what color is her hair.
But when it comes to me,
Does she? Or doesn’t she?
© Lawrencealot – April 12, 2014
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Ch'I Yen Shih

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Ch’i-Yen-Shih metre
This is, believe it or not, a Chinese verse form. Whether it’s worth doing in English is debatable. Stanzas have four lines of seven syllables each, with lines 2 and 4 rhyming. Each line has a caesura, or break, after the fourth syllable; I have laid the example out to emphasise this. That’s all there is to it, really, except that, to make it sound a little more Chinese, only words of one syllable should be used. 
Fenland
Long straight black road
far from home.
The moon hangs snagged
in the trees.
Foot down, I speed
through the night.
Rain falls in sheets,
starts to freeze.
The cats eyes pulse
like Morse code.
Far sparks speed close,
blaze then fade.
For hours on end
there’s no change:
Road, light, rain, wind,
screen and blade.
I’m tired and cold,
on my own.
How much of this
can I take?
I grit my teeth,
try to guess
How long I’ll last
till I brake.
Thanks to Bob Newman for his wonderful Volecentral resource site
Ancient Verse is probably the same verse form as Ch’I Yen Shih from the Lu Shi code verse. Ancient Verse is found desribed in John Drury’s poe-try-dic-tion-ar-y and is similar to Ch’I Yen Shi, with slight variation. As described by Drury, caesura was not specified and more latitude was given in the character count. This is probably an example of how form evolves or is corrupted by translation. For now I will treat this verse form as separate.
(Drury uses “syllable count”) Technically in Chinese prosody, character count and syllable count are one in the same since Chinese characters are one word and Chinese words are usually one syllable. However in English translation, a character could represent a 2 or 3 syllable English word. I use “character” in most of my metric descriptions of Chinese verse and often count words rather than syllables when attempting to write poems using Chinese verse forms in English. However, since Drury’s book describes the meter for this form as syllabic, I follow his lead.
Ancient Verse is:
  • stanzaic, written in quatrains.
  • syllabic, 5 to 7 syllable lines. isosyllabic (7/7/7/7) or (5/5/5/5)
  • rhymed, rhyme scheme either xaxa xaxa etc or xaxa xbxb etc. ( xaxaxaxa etc or xaxaxbxb)
  • no fixed tone pattern.
  • always composed with parallels and balance.
    pyramid by Judi Van Gorder
  • fresh dug dirt makes space and waits
  • rich earth forms a pyramid
    to welcome polished pine box
    with white roses on the lid
Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for her wonderful PMO resource site.
My example poem
Surveillance       (Ch’I Yen Shih)
My house has eyes in the dark
Big dogs see but first they smell.
I don’t switch them – off or on
still they serve as my door bell.
© Lawrencealot – April 9, 2014
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Sonnetina Rispetto

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Sonnetina Rispetto

The “Sonnetina Rispetto” is a new poetry form
created by Dorian Petersen Potter
on September 8,2009.
This form has 14 lines with 8 syllables each.
It can be written in 3 quatrain stanzas and a couplet or
with an Octave(8) and a Sestet(6) lines.
The rhyme scheme is as follows: A1,A2,B1,c,c,B2,A1,A2,d,d,B1,B2,A1,A2.
The capitals A1,A2,B1 and B2…stands for the refrain lines in the poem.

Specifications restated:
Stanzaic:  Either 4 quatrains and a couplet or a sestet and an octaveI
Isosyllabic:  Eight syllable per line
Repetitive: requires two refrain lines, each repeated twice.
Rhyme pattern: A1A2B1ccB2A1A2ddB1B2A1A2.My example poem
My Reservoir Is Now Pints Shy     (Sonnetia Rispetto)
A challenge once was put to me
to drink six beers and not to pee.
When young I won that careless bet
Six bottles I would quickly scarf,
then merely belch and never barf,
but how I did it I forget.
A challenge once was put to me
to drink six beers and not to pee.
My bladder then could wait and wait
and bow not to an old prostate.
When young I won that careless bet
but how I did it I forget.
A challenge once was put to me
to drink six beers and not to pee.
© Lawrencealot – March 18, 2014
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Double Seven

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This interesting form was created by Lisa La Grange of Allpoetry.
It is stanzaic, consisting of any number of quatrains.
Each quatrain will have its own abab rhyme pattern,
Where the a-rhymes will always be feminine.
It is isosyllabic, each line being seven syllables.
It is metric, each line having two metric feet, the first foot being four syllables, and the second foot being three syllables.
The a-rhyme lines consist of a secundus paeon + an amphibrach: da DUM da da / da DUM da
The b-rhyme lines consist of a tertius paeon + an anapest
 da da DUM da / da da DUM
So the meter of a stanza is thus:
da DUM da da da DUM da
da da DUM da, da da DUM
da DUM da da da DUM da
da da DUM da da da DUM.
Example Poem
Just-Married(Double Seven)
I wonder if the bridegroom
has accepted yet the fact
that access to the bathroom
will be science, inexact.
I she wants to go shopping
and he’s planned a poker game,
I think that he’ll be copping
friends a plea they’ll know is lame.
But he may find his laundry
looks much better than before
and find there is no quandary
for it’s him she does adore.
© Lawrencealot – February 24, 2014
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Where the red letters indicate lines with feminine rhyme.

Chaucerian Roundel

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Chaucerian Roundel
The Chaucerian roundel was developed by (obviously) Chaucer from (less obviously) the rondel rather than the roundel – not that there’s a huge amount of difference.  This example is dedicated to the Athenian gentleman who, in an e-mail, described my website as a “labor of love” (yes, it was Athens, Georgia). 
Ambition 
I’d like to do this all the time.
It doesn’t pay, but I confess
I love my day job rather less.
I’m tiring of the search for rhyme
And reason in life’s heaving mess.
I’d like to do this all the time.
A poet’s life must be sublime.
Those lucky few the gods would bless
Breathe only poetry. Oh yes,
I’d like to do this all the time. 
As with the rondel etc, there is a refrain, the first line being repeated at the end of the second and third stanzas. The rhyming scheme is Abb; abA; abbA, (AbbabAabbA) where the capital A’s denote the repetition of entire lines. No particular line length or metre is required.
My Thanks to Bob Newman for the wonderful resources at Volecentral.
The Chaucerian Roundel is closer to the French Rondel than the English Roundel. It is named for its originator Geoffrey Chaucer who has been said to write his Knight’s tale in the roundel, the rondel and the rondeau (take your pick). This verse form was found at Vol Central
The Chaucerian Roundel is:
  • a decastich, made up of 2 tercets followed by a quatrain.
  • written in no particular line length or meter although the form is often written in lines of equal length. Iambic tetrameter or pentameter lines are common.
  • rhymed Abb abA abbA , the A is a refrain.
  • composed with a refrain; L1 is repeated as a refrain in L6 and L10.
Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/667-chaucerian-roundel/>(line length optional, meter optional)
My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the wonderful resource at PMO.
My Example Poem
Could Be     (Chaucerian Roundel)
Could be our troubles are a state of mind,
could be that they’re imposed and very real,
like acts of God that man cannot appeal.
But social troubles I suspect you’ll find
depend to great extent on how you feel,
could be our troubles are a state of mind.
If one decides to leave ones woes behind
and acts accordingly with honest zeal
he’ll find that other’s slights are no big deal;
could be our troubles are a state of mind.
© Lawrencealot – February 12, 2014
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(note: although line length and meter are not required,
  this is set up for iambic pentameter)

Rimas Dissolutas

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This was originally a French form
 The form is isosyllabic  (all lines have the same number of syllables)
Meter optional
Line length optional
There is no stanza length requirement
There is no rhyming permitted within a stanza.
Each stanza must be like each other stanza
(same number of syllables, meter if any ,line length)
Line n in each stanza must rhyme with the same line in each other stanza. (External Rhyme)
Other sources:**************************************************
The Rimas Dissolutas is a French troubadouric verse (12th-13th centuries) in which unrhymed stanzas rhyme line by line with all of the other stanzas. This was a departure from the strict rhyme schemes of the day. The rhyme is there but it is more subtle.
The Rimas Dissolutas is:
  • stanzaic, written in any # of uniform length stanzas, all quatrains or all tercets or all sixains etc.
  • in keeping with most old French forms the verse is syllabic. One site suggests it is isosyllabic meaning all lines have the same number syllables, number of syllables at the discretion of the poet.
  • unrhymed lines within the stanza.
  • rhymed lines between stanzas.
  • sometimes written with an envoi which would be half the number of lines of the stanzas using the rhyme of the later lines of the stanzas.If the poem was written in sixains the rhyme would look like this:
Stanza 1
x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x c
x x x x x d
x x x x x e
Add’l Stanzas
x x x x x a
x x x x x b
x x x x x c
x x x x x d
x x x x x e
Envoi…
x x x x x c
x x x x x d
Thanks to Ms.  Van Gorder for the find PMO resorce.
Rimas Dissolutas (Troubadouric song)
I was delighted to discover recently that this was recognised – in some quarters, anyway – as a standard form, and had a name. In rimas dissolutas, the stanzas are all similar, and all use the same rhymes. The first lines all rhyme with each other, the second lines all rhyme with each other, and so on. These are all external rhymes; there are no rhymes between lines in the same stanza. 
The blessed Malcovati calls this form the troubadouric song, giving it as the only member of a category of open forms he calls coblas unissonantis (a Provençal term which he assures us is in common use). It is normal, he tells us, for there to be an envoi, shorter than the other stanzas but rhyming with the latter part of them.
Thanks to Bob Newman for the Wonderful Resource Site.
Example Poe
Groceries    (Rimas  Dissolutas)

 

We touch and kiss and hold and hug,
and work to earn our daily bread.
Our foodstuff’s ready in the store –
our meat our milk our wines our cake.
A small bird looking for a bug
about to be a meal instead
we breed to fatten, kill, and more
are we more proper than the snake?
© Lawrencealot – February 7, 2014

Picture credit: google images, rights belong to photographer.

Her is a visual template that just happened to choose
Iambic tetrameter quatrains.

Pathya vat

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The Pathya Vat is a Cambodian verse form, consisting of four lines of four syllables each, where lines two and three rhyme. When a poem consists more than one stanza, the last line of the previous stanza rhymes with the second and third lines of the following one.
Example Poem
She Shops     (Pathya vat)
On shopping day
you disappear
and it’s unclear
to me, just how.
“You go alone,
I can’t stop now”,
and anyhow
my team’s behind.
I know your ways
so I declined
and you are kind
to let me stay.
Go find treasures,
(it takes all day-
I’ll gladly pay)
just not to play.
© Lawrencealot – Februrary 5, 2014
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This is show in iambic dimeter