Tag Archives: refrain

Lira

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Spanish Poetry
Lira, is a shortened variation of the Canción. The Lira “loosely refers to any short strophe” NPEOPP. The most commonly referred to features of the verse are the repetition of L2 in L5 and a rhyme scheme of aBabB, both of which narrow the verse to a stanzaic form, the quintain. Other frames were also suggested but with less definition. The quintain stanzaic form was apparently the most popular form of the Lira in 16th century Spain. 

The Lira is:
• stanzaic, popularly written in one or a short number of cinquains. The form is occasionally found in sixains and on rare occasions, quatrains.
• syllabic, the lines are usually in a fixed pattern of Italianate lines, (7 and 11 syllables). The last line of the stanza is always 11 syllables. The first stanza establishes the fixed pattern.
• often written with L2 repeated as L5.
• rhymed, often using only consonant rhyme. The most common rhyme scheme is aBabB, but alternatives could be aBaBcC, abbacC, abABcC 

Computer Connection by Judi Van Gorder

Fingertips rapidly tap, 
chosen letters appear in black on the screen.
Words are formed to fill the gap 
between thoughts and sounds unseen.
Chosen letters appear in black on the screen.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1016
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

Arrival on Track 3 (Lira)

When she stepped down from the train,
approaching from behind I quickly kissed her.
But, but, but I must explain,
’twasn’t her – ’twas her sister.
Approaching from behind I quickly kissed her.

© Lawrencealot – December 16, 2014

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Double Refrain Chant Royal

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Double Refrain Chant Royal

Type:

Structure, Metrical Requirement, Repetitive Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Isosyllabic

Description:

This is another one I made up. But I ask you, why shouldn’t I? This is a Chant Royal with an extra refrain. To accommodate the extra refrain without messing up the Chanso requirements, I changed the rhyme scheme a mite. It just seemed to need doing.

Attributed to:

“The Dread Poet Roberts”

Origin:

American

Schematic:

ababcCcdedE
ababcCcdedE
ababcCcdedE
ababcCcdedE
ababcCcdedE
CdedE

Where C and E are the two refrains.

Rhythm/Stanza Length:

11

Line/Poem Length:

60

To contact us, e-mail thegnosticpoet@poetrybase.info.

Copyright © 2001-2013 by Charles L. Weatherford. All rights reserved.

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

 

 

My example

 Ludwig II

Ludwig II – The Fairy Tale King

Of all the kings that I have ever known,

it’s thee that I would swear allegiance to.

Much of your youth you had to spend alone,

a real child prince with a child prince’s view.

If you be mad, dear prince, let all kings be.

Lasting beauty rose from your youth’s fantasy.

Announced by some as “The Fairy Tale King”,

(A minister looked down his nose and sniffed.)

For history, you did a wondrous thing.

Medieval memories – a worthwhile gift.

 

Ascended at age eighteen to the throne

Within two years his kingdom days were through

when Prussia claimed Bavaria for its own.

Bavaria was merged without much ado.

If you be mad, dear prince, let all kings be.

You touted theater, the arts, and poetry

which seems to have a proper kingly zing.

You gave the European arts a lift.

You gave chivalry back its song to sing.

Medieval memories – a worthwhile gift.

 

The seeds of Wagner’s operas were sown

in your young heart, and there they always grew.

His move into your castle was renown,

His reputation spread because of you.

If you be mad, dear prince, let all kings be.

You sent envoys around the world to see

designs chosen to give your castles zing.

Through all the projects you yourself would sift;

your love of legend touched most everything.

Medieval memories – a worthwhile gift.

 

Your ministers would often gripe and moan

“Castles are extravagant ! Skip a few !”

although the fortune spent was just your own.

The use of public funds you did eschew.

If you be mad, dear prince, let all kings be.

Our spirits elevation brought you glee.

Local builders worked building every wing,

thus giving the economy a lift.

The splendid structures often made them sing.

Medieval memories- a worthwhile gift.

 

With royal purse and funds obtained by loan

for two decades you kept employed a crew;

where artisans had clearly set the tone.

No wonder locals did and do love you.

If you be mad, dear prince, let all kings be.

Too many think “This bounty’s all for me,”

and tightly onto privilege they will cling.

Your projects spoke of anything but thrift

Yet each year now, fine revenue they bring.

Medieval memories – a worthwhile gift.

 

If you be mad, dear prince, let all kings be.

What happiness would such a focus bring

if politics took a paradigm shift

Nueschwanstein is your your monument my King.

Medieval memories – a worthwhile gift.

© Lawrencealot – December 5, 2014

Picture credit: Wikipedia Commons

 

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Double Refrain Chant Royal

Canzonetta

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The Canzonetta or Canzonet and Canzonetta Prime are variations of the Canzone with a more definitive frame. It is a 16th century Italian secular composition often with pastoral, irreverent, or erotic themes.

The Canzonetta or Canzonet is:
• at least 2 octaves, made up of 2 quatrains of alternating rhyme.
• written with no fixed meter or line length.
• composed with a refrain, repeated in L8 of each octave.
• rhymed, ababcdcD, efefgdgD.
• is called a Canzonetta Prime when the rhyme scheme is ababcbcB dbdbebeB. In this rhyme scheme there is often a repeated rhyme word to strengthen the repetition, but it is not required.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=1159
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

You Look a Mess (Canzonetta Prime)

If you should choose to go out shopping
while wearing curlers in your hair
or sporting flip-lops that are flopping
Why should anybody care?
Appearance is not cause for dramas
even in the public square.
Although those look like mom’s pajamas
apparently you do not care.

The curlers surely have a cause;
for whom is it that you prepare?
What if you met you own in-laws
or little children you might scare?
With due concern for other folk,
at least you should don leisure wear.
Your disrepair looks like a joke
apparently you do not care.

© Lawrencealot – November 20, 2012

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Canzonetta

Balada

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Balada (France) is a less popular version and differs from the Dansa or Balatta in that it is more a genre than a stanzaic form. The only consistent requirements being that the verse be lyrical and carry a “persistent” refrain. (The refrain can be more than one line.) From there the frame varies at the discretion of the poet. However the NPEOPP suggests that the first line of the refrain is repeated after the 1st line and sometimes 2nd line of each stanza.

The Balada is:
• stanzaic, often written in 3 stanzas (at least 5 lines each) of consistent number of lines (3 quintains, 3 sixains, 3 octaves etc.)Occasionally you may find more than 3 stanzas in the poem.
• Sometimes written with a mote which then serves as a refrain.
• the lines have no set meter. However during the period from which these verse forms emerged, quantitative or syllabic meters were most often present in the verse of these regions. The dominant Occitan meter was hexasyllabic (6 syllable) lines and the dominant Italian meter was the heptasyllabic (7 syllable) lines with the primary accent on the 6th syllable.
• rhymed, when written with a mote and 3 quintains, rhyme scheme AbAbaA bAbaA bAbaA A being the refrain.
• written with a “persistent” refrain, often at L2, sometimes L4 and the last line of each stanza. 

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=693#balada
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My Example

Dumb Them Down (Balada)

Don’t let them learn too much,
just dumb them down in school.
Don’t let them learn too much,
they’re easier to fool.
Don’t let them learn too much.

Get them before pre-school.
Don’t let them learn too much.
Indoctrination’s cool; 
they’ll need us for a crutch.
Don’t let them learn too much.

Do not allow home-school,
Don’t let them learn too much.
Elites must not lose rule,
Send them to war and such,
Don’t let them learn too much.

© Lawrencealot – November 12, 2014

Visual template
This template is iambic, but meter is NOT mandated.

Balada

Double Glose

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Double Glose
Type: Structure, Repetitive Requirement, Other Requirement
Description: The double glose uses each line of the texte as a refrain, twice in the poem. One was done as a Stave where the line is both first and last of the glossing verse.
Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
Schematic: Varies

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/000/92.shtml>
My thanks to Charles L. Weatherford for his years of work on the wonderful Poetrybase resource.

Since there are numerable differences in the interpretation of the proper formal requirement of the Glose, sub-forms have been invented which specifically mandate requirements which might or might not be chosen when writing a Glose.

The glose originated in Spain, where it is known as the glosa.

I am presenting here only one reference to the Glose itself, from a site which appears no longer active, (November 2014) but which presented the following fine overview.

WHAT IS A GLOSA POEM?
The Glosa was used by poets of the Spanish court and dates back to the late 14th and early 15th century. For some reason, it has not been particularly popular in English. A search of the Internet search will uncovered a meager number of brief references to the form. From the limited information it is learned that the traditional structure has two parts. The first part is called the texte or cabeza. It consists of the first few lines (usually four) or the first stanza (usually a quatrain) from a well-known poem or poet. It has become permissible to use lines from a less well-known poet, or even from ones own verse.
The second part is the glose or glosa proper. This is a “gloss on,” an expansion, interpretation or explanation of the texte. The formal rule describes the glosa as consisting of four ten-line stanzas, with the consecutive lines of the texte being used as the tenth line (called the glossing) of each stanza. Furthermore, lines six and nine must rhyme with the borrowed tenth. Internal features such as length of lines, meter and rhyme are at the discretion of the poet. Examples of this will be found in this chapbook collection.
As with most poetic forms, unless dictated by strict contest requirements, poets have taken the liberty to vary the format. In addition to the glosa’s traditional ten-line stanzas, one will find 4-, 5- and 8-liners. They will be found written in free verse, with meter, and with rhyme. In the shorter variations. You will find variations in which the first line of each stanza (taken from the original texte) repeated again as the last line – added as a refrain. When the first line is repeated as the refrain at the end of a poem the stanza form is referred to as an Envelope.
Another variation of a short glosa poem has to do with the location of the borrowed line. It can be the first line, the last line, or one inserted into the body of the stanza. Yet another variation is the use of the first four lines of a prose piece as the texte.
 
Pasted from <http://www.poetry-nut.com/glosa_poetry.htm>

Restated specification for the Double Glose
The first part is called the texte or cabeza. It consists of the first few lines (usually four) or the first stanza (usually a quatrain) from a well-known poem or poet. It has become permissible to use lines from a less well-known poet, or even from ones own verse. It is presented as an epigram beneath the title of your own poem
The following Glose or Glosa proper is
Stanzaic: consisting of as many stanzas, as there are lines in your texte,
each having a line length of the poets choosing
Metered: With a consistent meter of the poet’s choosing
Rhymed or not with a pattern of the poet’s choosing
Formulaic: Each line of the texte shall be both the first and list lines of succeeding stanzas.
Related forms listed here: Glose, Double Glose, Top Glose

Example Poem
Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue
In phrases unwritten and measures unsung,
As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea,
Is the song that my spirit is singing to me.
-from Song of the Spirit
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue,
my thoughts dance and flutter on gossamer wings.
Elusively trapped in the webs I have spun
feelings that from my soul’s core have been wrung
in poems conceived when my heart soars and sings.
Too sweet and too subtle for pen or for tongue.

In phrases unwritten and measures unsung,
I long to give birth to them, set them all free.
The source I must find from which they have sprung,
then gathers the jewels I will find there among,
hat I might expound them in my poetry.
In phrases unwritten and measures unsung.

As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea,
where voices of whales transverse distance and time,
all coming together in sweet harmony,
a harvest of gold born of my own psyche
are verses all written in metrical rhyme.
As deep and as strange as the sounds of the sea.

Is the song that my spirit is singing to me
forever to be an elusive refrain
that haunts me and taunts me with sweet melody
while mem’ry deserts me,  ignores every plea?
I cannot quite grasp or its beauty retain:
Is the song that my spirit is singing to me.

© Patricia Curtis, 2011

Pasted from <https://poetscollective.org/blog/2014/11/song-of-the-spirit/>

Visual template for this Double Glose
This poet chose sestet stanzas in catalectic amphibrach tetrameter,
With each stanza’s rhyme scheme being AbaabA.

Double Glose

Atarlis Fileata

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Atarlis Fileata (a-ar-lee fee-lay-ah-tay), which is Gaelic for “repeating poetic” is a stanzaic verse which doesn’t seem to adhere to the standards of the ancient Irish forms. So I can only assume this is a more recent invented form, possibly the creation of Cathy at Mosaic Musings although she doesn’t indicate it as such. 

The Atarlis Fileata is:
• stanzaic, written in any number of septets but each septet must be able to stand alone, therefore a narrative would not be appropriate.
• measured by number of words not syllables or metric feet with 2-3-4-5-4-3-2 words per line.
• rhymed, A B a x a B A.
• composed with a refrain, L1 is repeated as L7 and L2 is repeated as L6, 

Heat of Autumn by Judi Van Gorder

Colors turn
warm my view
while damp leaves burn
and toast my frigid fingers 
send thoughts to churn
warm my view
colors turn

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2169
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

My example

I Vote Wrong (Atarlis Fileata)

I try
although it’s meaningless,
that I won’t deny.
Candidates I vote for lose.
I don’t know why;
although it’s meaningless
I try.

© Lawrencealot – November 11, 2014

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Atarlis Fileata

Villancico

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Villancico
The villancico hails from Spain, and is a (largely forgotten) forerunner of the villanelle. As with the villanelle, whole lines are repeated. In fact, whole couplets are repeated. There are three stanzas, and last two lines of the first and second stanzas are both repeated at the end of the third. Here’s an example, in the best possibletaste:
Ordure of the British Empire

Most frequent of our complaints
Is ignorance in the young.
Oftentimes my lady faints
When plain folk misname their dung,
But speak of otters’ spraints
And we’ll know you are sound.

On such small orthodoxies
Aristocracy is based.
Don’t know what “poo of ox” is?
You’re so common; you’ve no taste!
Waggyings of foxes –
That’s where breeding is found.

Badger’s werdrobe on the ground;
Hare’s crotels scattered around;
Wild boar’s fiants – Ha! You frowned!
You’re not gentry, I’ll be bound!
But speak of otters’ spraints
And we’ll know you are sound.
Waggyings of foxes –
That’s where breeding is found.

The rhyming scheme is quite demanding, with 6 of the 8 lines of the third stanza required to rhyme with one another. In the only other example I have seen, there is even more rhyming (so that the lines here ending in “based” and “taste” ought to rhyme with “complaints”), but I flashed my artistic licence and claimed exemption from that requirement. 7-syllable lines seem to be standard, except in the two refrains, which both use 6-syllable lines.
I haven’t seen a formal description of the villancico anywhere. Researching these obscure forms can be a frustrating business. According to various sources, the villancico is the Spanish equivalent of a madrigal, or of a carol, or primarily a musical form without lyrics. It is certainly not a verse form anyone is prepared to give an exact description of. (Except perhaps in Spanish – a language I don’t speak.) Any information would be gratefully received.
In this example, I am taking the mickey out of the vocabulary of field sports. (Not for the first time. I also have a poem called Table Manners – more popularly known as Frushing the Chub – which uses a selection of Elizabethan carving terms.) Back in the days of Empire, there was a specific word for virtually every attribute or behaviour of any animal species of interest to the aristocracy. The best known of these are probably the nouns of assemblage – murder of crows, exaltation of larks, murmurationof starlings, dopping of sheldrake, etc. Harmless pieces of trivia for pub quizzes nowadays, but once these were potent shibboleths – anyone who didn’t know the proper word for a hare’s droppings (see above) or the sexual antics of foxes (“clickitting”) was plainly not “one of us”. An authoritative book on the subject was written byEdward, Duke of York, first cousin to Henry IV.    

Pasted from http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/villancico.htm
My thanks to Bob Newman for his years of work on the wonderful Volecentral resource.

Specifications restated:

A stanzaic poem of 20 lines, 2 sestets plus and octet
Syllabic: The first four lines of each stanza are 7 syllable, the remainder 6 syllables
Rhymed: ababAC1 dedeDC2 ccccAC1DC2.
Refrains indicated by the Capital letters

My example

Let Us Prey  (Villancico)

A gift must have some appeal
before the intent can count.
Man can’t eat a godly spiel –
so take that into account.
What you give should be real,
It should fulfill a need.

An offer of warm French fries,
or a tattered coat to wear
may mean more to homeless guys
than assurance that God cares.
if your gift satisfies
Then you’ve done a good deed.

Gifts with strings attached are fraud
they’re for you – and that is flawed.
Such giving I can’t applaud;
even in the name of God.
What you give should be real,
It should fulfill a need.
if your gift satisfies
Then you’ve done a good deed.

© Lawrencealot – October 31, 2014

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Villancico

Pirouette

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• The Pirouette is an invented verse form with very little detail provided.
The Pirouette is:
○ a decastich, a poem in 10 lines.
○ syllabic, 6 syllable per line.
○ L5 is repeated in L6.
○ rhymed or unrhymed at the discretion of the poet.

Pasted from http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?/topic/2192-invented-forms-from-poetry-styles/
My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.

Pirouette
 10 line free verse   Each line contains 6 syllables Line 5 and 6 are identical
Line 5 ends first half   Line 6 starts second   Both halves different

Pasted from http://the.a.b.c.of.poetry.styles.patthepoet.com/OtoS.html
Many Thanks to Christina R Jussaume for her work on the Poetry Styles site.

Well, after scouring the internet, I found conflicting information on whether to poem could rhyme or not, and only free verse examples. SO, I am going to opt for Judi Van Gorder’s take, and pen a rhymed version as I have found her research most frequently correct in the past.

My example

The Santa Crawl (Pirouette)

Tying one on last night
wobbling from bar to bar,
each dressed up like Santa,
none allowed in a car.
It made downtown a sight.

It made downtown a sight.
Santa was everywhere;
It’s worth the trip downtown.
Each tavern gets its share.
A grown-up kid’s delight.

© Lawrencealot – October 25, 2014

Photo Credit, and info on this annual Reno Event
http://www.visitrenotahoe.com/reno-tahoe/what-to-do/events/special-events/12-13-2014/reno-santa-pub-crawl

Haven Fire

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Haven Fire is a poem of 20 lines, created by Paul Steele, writing on Allpoetry as IntimidusRex. The length of each stanza, varies from 1 to 8 as determined by its position in a Fibonacci series.

It is:
Isosyllabic, with each line having 8 syllables
Stanzaic, Consisting of 6 stanzas
Formulaic, Each Stanza’s length is determined by its position in a Fibonacci series.
Rhymed: Rhyme pattern: a b cc aac ccaac bcbcbaba
Refrained: The first half of L1 becomes: the first half of L8, L13, and L18.
The 2nd half of L1 becomes the 2nd half of L10 and L18
The first half of L2 becomes the 2nd half of L3, and L8, and the 1st half of L17.
The 2nd half of L2 becomes the 1st half of L5, the 2nd half of L13 and L17.

*Fibonacci sequence 
The sequence of numbers, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, … , 
in which each successive number is equal to the sum of the two preceding numbers.

Related Poetry Forms: Fib Diamond, Fib Series, Fibonacci Spiral, Fiboquattro, Haven Fire

My example

Water Cycle (Haven Fire)

When water falls it changes states

It might be mist a magic shift

It changes states  it might be mist
but it was vapor in our midst.

A magic shift it changes states
within a cloud it transformates
(a new word now, I must insist.)

When water falls It might be mist
but molecules cannot resist
and often one evaporates
and downward mist just dissipates
and thirsty farmers then are pissed.

When water falls a magic shift
takes place and lets cold snow exist
which gives our mountain streams a lift.
which fact allows life to persist.
It might be mist a magic shift
when water falls it changes states. 
This cycle is an awesome gift
that mother nature regulates.

© Lawrencealot – October 20, 2014

Visual template

Haven Fire

Mid-Swap

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Mid-Swap
Created by England’s Jenny Buzzard, this form requires adherance to a strict structure.  It contains four quatrains with a center couplet, at a syllable count of eight per line.  The rhyme scheme is:  A1abb   ccdd   A2A1   eeff   ggaA2    Or, to put that in an example: Start out with a line in rhyme “A,”  XXXXXXXa   XXXXXXXb   XXXXXXXb   XXXXXXXc  XXXXXXXc   XXXXXXXd   XXXXXXXd   Do once more a line in rhyme “A.” Start out with a line in rhyme “A.”  XXXXXXXe  XXXXXXXe  XXXXXXXf    XXXXXXXf   XXXXXXXg   XXXXXXXg   XXXXXXXa   Do once more a line in rhyme “A.”

Pasted from http://the.a.b.c.of.poetry.styles.patthepoet.com/ItoN.html

Specifications restated:
The Mid-Swap is:
An 18 line poem
Stanzaic, consisting of four quatrains separated by a couplet.
Isosyllabic, consisting of 8 syllable lines.
Rhymed: A1abb   ccdd   A2A1   eeff   ggaA2
Refrained, as indicated by the capital letters in the rhyme scheme.

My example

Off-balance (Mid-Swap)

When you went crazy as a kid
like loosening the pepper lid
you managed then to stir the pot,
and frequently you were not caught.

You lobbed a snowball high and far,
before we even saw the car.
Of all our throws, that one was tops
despite the fact you nailed some cops.

You did for fun the things you did
When you went crazy as a kid.

The camp advisor you’d short-sheet
each time we went on our retreat.
In college you moved drunk guy’s bed
from quiet dorm to quad instead.

You disregarded proper form,
exciting times became our norm.
Don’t let age stop you, God forbid!
You did for fun the things you did.

© Lawrencealot – October 21, 2014

Visual template
Note: this template shows iambic tetrameter, but meter is not mandated.

Mid-Swap