Tag Archives: quatrains

Jram

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Jram form Invented by LilacThOughts of Allpoetry.com.
Stanzaic: 5 quatrains.
Isosyllabic:  10  or 8 syllables to each line
Rhyme scheme: aabb bbcc bbdd aadd aaff  (aabbbbccbbddaabbaaff).
The last line of 1st stanza becomes 1st line of second stanza
Refrain: 3rd line of 1st stanza becomes 1st line of 3rd stanza
2nd line of 1st stanza becomes 1st line of 4th stanza
1st line of 1st stanza become 1st line of 5th stanza
Meter: optional by the poet, Iambic Pentameter works well
This form may also be used with tetrameter
as a poetic option.
Example Poem
Poets’ Love
Our poems relieved a certain unrest.
We drove each other to produce our best.
Though verse we lived where neither still could go.
Within our verses we did make it so.
Within our verses we did make it so.
We’d sail on yachts and sip of fine Bordeaux.
Tall peaks were climbed and pleasant valleys crossed.
We found adventure, and our fears were lost.
Though verse we lived where neither still could go.
We crossed desserts and mountains capped with snow.
Ignoring barriers thwarting us in life,
By-passed, surmounted without any strife.
We drove each other to produce our best.
We strolled thru poem forms as though possessed.
We thought a lot alike and loved to share.
I felt alone at times she wasn’t there.
Our poems relieved a certain unrest.
We soothed each other during times of stress.
When things became too much for her to bear.
I only hoped it mattered I was there.
© Lawrencealot – September 15, 2013
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Jram

Kyrielle

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A Kyrielle is a French form of rhyming poetry written in quatrains (a stanza consisting of 4 lines),
 and each quatrain contains a repeating line or phrase as a refrain.
Each line within the poem  consists of only eight syllables.
There is no limit to the amount of stanzas a Kyrielle may have, but three is considered the accepted minimum.
Some popular rhyming schemes for a Kyrielle are: aabB ccb, ddbB (aabBccbddbB),
or abaB, cbcB, dbdB (abaBcbcBdbdB) with B being the refrain.
Related Forms: Kyrielle, Double Refrain Kyrielle, Lai, Lai Nouveau, Viralai Ancien, Viralai, Virelet

Example Poem
Til the Earless Bunny
Til was a bunny born earless
but that mattered not, still fearless
he played in the hay, and  was  spry.
Sometimes things happen- we wonder why.
Genetic change, says Darwin cause
species to  evolve, now just pause
and consider, penquins can’t fly.
Sometimes things happen- we wonder why.
With ears Til might have heard the threat,
Of near by feet and be here yet
Til lived until he was to die.
Sometimes things happen- we wonder why.
Author Note:
The fate of 17-day-old Til, a bunny with a genetic defect,
was plastered across German newspapers on Thursday,
the same day a small zoo in Saxony was to have presented him
to the world at a press conference.
The cameraman told Bild newspaper he hadn’t seen Til,
who had buried himself in hay, when he took the fateful
step backward Wednesday.
© Lawrencealot – April 8, 2012
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Loose Sapphic

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There are variations of the Sapphic Stanza and I have chosen the Loose Sapphic form created by Marie Marshall. The form is composed over four lines, the first three being hendecasyllabic and the fourth being pentasyllabic.
The focus is on syllabic meter rather than accentual giving the poet more room to explore poetical device and grammatical schema within the verse structure. From the creator’s own examples I have found the poems to be more vibrant and dramatic than their strictly metric counterparts.
Using ‘X’ to represent each syllable the schema of the Loose Sapphic form can be shown as thus:
X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X
Example Poem
Lady Bird Adrift

My intent to fly by-and-by was boosted.
I’m content to flutter by the butterfly
effect.  Some butterfly in Balboa flapped
boldly days ago.
A seagull here an eagle there added puffs
against the calm.  A heated hillside thermal
energy aggregated puff-puff forces-
calm contingencies.
I’ll leave Louise and Lester nibbling aphid
nosh, and catch this seed in transit through garden’s
wide expanse.  I may deplane any time or
merely take a chance.
I’m smarter than your average bug because a
beetle, not a bug be I.  This subterfuge
could save my life– wasps find me tasty and look
to see just me fly.
© Lawrencealot – June 26, 2012

Swap Quatrain

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The Swap Quatrain was created by Lorraine M. Kanter. Each stanza in the poem must be a quatrain (four lines) where the first line is reversed in the fourth line. In addition, line 2 must rhyme with line 1, and line 3 must rhyme with line 4 and so on, BUT not repeat the same rhyming pattern on subsequent stanzas. Rhyming pattern: aabb, ccdd  and so on.

Example

(Swap Quatrain)

Heartfelt  

His clothes did stink, his coat was old
He came inside to leave the cold.
He needed food he needed drink.
His coat was old his clothes did stink.

Said youngest boy, “Give me a loan.”
He had one dollar of his own.
I thought he wanted fries or toy.
“Give me a loan,” said youngest boy,

To his one buck he added mine
boy calculating, said, “That’s fine
for that old guy down on his luck.”
He added mine to his one buck.

I was so proud to see him give.
His heart showed us all how to live.
He did not ask, “Was that allowed?”
to see him give, I was so proud.

© Lawrencealot – December 30, 2012

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Mirrored Refrain

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The Mirrored Refrain is a rhyming verse form constructed by Stephanie Repnyek.
The poem is formed by three or more quatrains where two lines within
the quatrain are the “mirrored refrain” or alternating refrain.
The rhyme scheme is as follows: xaBA xbAB xaBA xbAB, etc.. (xaABxbABxaBA)
There is no set meter or line-length.
x represents the only lines that do not have to rhyme within the poem.
But you CAN choose to rhyme them.
A and B represent the refrain.
Example Poem
A Night for Us
Her earrings match her blouse and skirt.
I hand the rose to my best friend,
With slow and silent kiss I start.
In brash flamboyant glee I end.
The fireplace shadows seem to flirt
With ceiling as the fire I start.
In brash flamboyant glee I end.
With slow and silent kiss I start.
We finish the night with the kids
at mom’s so ardor will ascend.
With slow and silent kiss I start.
In brash flamboyant glee I end.
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Monotetra

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The monotetra is a form developed by Michael Walker. Each stanza contains four lines in monorhyme. Each line is in tetrameter (four metrical feet) for a total of eight syllables. What makes the monotetra so powerful as a poetic form, is that the last line contains two metrical feet, repeated. It can have as few as one or two stanzas, or as many as desired.

Stanza Structure:

Line 1: 8 syllables; A1
Line 2: 8 syllables; A2
Line 3: 8 syllables; A3
Line 4: 4 syllables, repeated; A4, A4  (8/8/8/8)

Example Poem

Collaboration

My gramp brought me a valentine.
To give to mommy and it’s just fine.
I’m four years old and it’s all mine.
A valentine. A valentine.

It’s got a heart and teddy bear
To show my mom how much I care.
A tiny voice came from nowhere,
“I’ve got no flair.” “I’ve got no flair.”

Somehow that card said words to me.
“I’m not as fine as I can be.
I need more personality”
that she can see, that she can see.”

“With your help lad, I’ll be much more.
I’ll be a card that she’ll adore.”
I’ll not be common anymore!
Accept this chore.  Accept this chore.”

With a crayon I wrote just “my”
before “Mom”.   She is my own, that’s why.
I signed Tommy then heard card sigh.
I don’t know why, I don’t know why.

The card she’s kept for all this time.
A priceless card that cost a dime.
Mom says I made the value climb
with my first rhyme, with my first rhyme.

© Lawrencealot – February 9, 2013

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Partenza Represa

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The Partenza Represa created by: Dawn Slanker
It contains any number of four line stanzas which can rhyme or not rhyme
depending on preference. The most important features of this form are that
it maintains strict syllable line count of your choosing:
8*6*8*6, 8*8*8*8, 10*10*10*10, etc…and that each line must begin
(anywhere you like) with the last portion of the preceding line.
Also, it’s important to point out that you have the option of either
continuing the first line of each stanza with a refrain from the line
preceding it or you may choose to begin an entirely new line for each stanza.
IMHO that makes this one of the most versatile forms I have yet addressed:
Any meter, any line length, any or no rhyme, word refrains
Example Poem
They Fart Melodies
Some folks believe their shit don’t stink.
Their shit don’t  stink, some people think.
Some people think, It seems to  me,
It seems to me- You may agree.
Suggest they’ve faltered and you’ll see.
You’ll see amazment- “What?  Not me!
Not me, the fault is in your view.
Your  view if critical– untrue!”
Their poop’s foil-wrapped, it has no smell.
It has no smell, a fool can tell.
A  fool can tell they’re always right.
They’re always right; therein’s our plight.
Fawn, applaud, and give them respect.
Respect even what’s not correct.
Correct them once and you’ll be banned.
You’ll be banned: You don’t understand
© Lawrencealot – April 30, 2012
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Partenza Represa

Quadrilew

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Created by C. G. V. Lewis, the Quadrilew is a form of quatrain poem
with an abab rhyming scheme, repeating lines, and contains an alternating syllable structure.
.
This is a stanzaic, form requiring 4 quatrains.
It is syllabic with two forms, either 5/6/5/6  repeating or 6/5/6/5 repeating.
Minimum 16 lines, No meter specified.
Refrains: The Nth line of the first quatrain is the first line of the Nth quatrain.
In the first verse, the poet may either start with a five or six syllable line.
The poem requires FOUR quatrains
Rhyme pattern: aBAB2 Baba Abab B2aba, when the capitalized letters represent the three refrain lines.
VERSE ONE,
Line 1, 5 syllables.
Line 2, 6 syllables.
Line 3, 5 syllables.
Line 4, 6 syllables.
VERSE TWO,
Line 1, (which is a REPEAT of line 2 of the FIRST verse) has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.
VERSE THREE,
Line 1, (which is a REPEAT of line 3 of the first verse) has 5 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 6 syllables.
VERSE FOUR,
Line 1, (which is a REPEAT of line 4 of the first verse) has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.
If the first line of verse one has 6 syllables then the pattern is
Verse 1, 6565,
Verse 2, 5656,
Verse 3, 6565,
Verse 4 5656: (the rhyme pattern still being abab.)
If wishing to create a longer poem then the next verse (5)
must be a completely fresh set of four lines,
these being used as before in the following three verses.
Example Poem
My Goat   (Quadrilew)

My goat can’t pedal yet.
My goat likes to ride
when we go to the vet.
He likes apples fried.
My goat likes to ride
buses, trains, and , you bet
cars– on the inside!
(He don’t like gettin’ wet. )
When we go to the vet
He climbs up astride
my back and that’s no sweat.
my goat’s satisfied.
He likes apples fried
if appetite’s been whet.
Laughs he will provide,
he’s more a friend than pet.
© Lawrencealot – Janyary 20,2016

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This is the 5/6 option

This is th 6/5 option

Roger's Refrain

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This is a form invented on AllPoetry.com by Rockape 

It is written in iambic tetrameter with
Any number of mono-rhyme quatrain stanzas, and
and ending rhyming couplet.

It is stanzaic, with quatrains, each stanza being mono-rhymed with the last half of line one, being the repeated refrain, as the last half of line 4.
There is no limit to the number of stanzas but the poem must end with a rhyming couplet.


Example  Poem

I Lost My Kid     (Roger’s Refrain)
On a long trip I lost my kid.
Responsible I am- yet did
and not because he went and hid.
‘T’was late at night I lost my kid.
Me and my boys driving quite far
It would be three day trip by car.
It’s cool at night; that’s how things are
I like that when driving quite far.
In Rock Springs WY I’d stopped to pee.
Got back in checked back seat to see,
indeed my boys were there with me.
I went back where I’d stopped to pee.
There I bought some coffee to go,
got in and went; I don’t go slow.
After an hour got tired you know
Even with the coffee to go.
Pulled off and slept ’til morning light.
That way passed last hour of the night.
My Gary said, Where’s Bob tonight?
I thought him there, ’til morning light.
He had jumped out to take a pee.
and walked to the John don’t you see?
While I was buying that coffee
unknown to me, to take a pee.
I sped back to the coffee shop
without my seeing single cop
who’d been told to locate and stop
one whose kid’s in the coffee shop.
There Bob a grin from ear to ear
A donut in each hand was clear
this adventure had posed no fear.
Powdered sugar from ear to ear.

For dad, there was a bit of fright,
for son,  adventure and delight.


(c) Lawrencealot – August 24, 2012
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