Tag Archives: tetrameter

Rondine

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The Rondine is a little seen shortened version of the Rondeau dating back to at least the 16th century. 
The elements of the Rondine are:
1. a poem in 12 lines made up of a quatrain, a tercet and ending in a quintet.
2. syllabic 8 syllables per line accept L7 and L12 which are 4 syllables each.
3. In English metered, most often iambic tetrameter except the refrain which is iambic dimeter.
4. composed with a refrain repeated from the opening phrase of the poem, rentrement.
5. rhymed, using only 2 rhymes except for the refrain being unrhymed, rhyme scheme abba,abR, abbaR
(R being the refrain)

Poetry Magnum Opus

My thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the fine resource above.

NOTE: The rhyme may be sight rhyme, slant rhyme, or assonance.
ALSO NOTE: This form is found frequently WITH MORE than EIGHT syllables, as in the example given on the page quoted below.

This is another very neglected and a very challenging poetry form. It consists of two stanzas, a septet (7 lines), and a quintet (5 lines), making the poem a total of 12 lines. There is a refrain which mimics the first phrase of the first line. R.

The Rondine has a rhyme scheme of,

(R a). b. b. a. a. b. R….a. b. b. a. R.

The meter is open with the French style and not bound by a rhyming pattern and is a more light and buoyant even “flashy” form of poetry which uses short lines, whereas the English is more formal and uses Tetrameter or Pentameter.

Here is an example by Wesli Court.

The Poets Garret

My Example

Write a Rondine

Here’s my Rondine, my very first.
With practice I’ll get better yet.
There is not much I should forget.
The rhymes are decently dispersed.
Find five alike, then dive headfirst.
Now have I, your interest whet?
Here’s my Rondine.

Choose words so refrain’s not coerced.
It ties the poem don’t forget,
from start to end refrain’s abet
a singularity well versed.
Here’s my Rondine.  

© Lawrencealot – April 2012

Michelle's Quatrain Wrap

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This form was created by  Michelle DeLoatch-Barbosa , aka Michelle723 of Allpoety.

 

It consists of four or more quatrains
the first three lines being written in iambic tetrameter
and the last line being written in iambic trimeter.
Of course poets so inclined may substitute trochaic meter.

Rhyme Scheme: aaab cccb dddb … aaab
Example Poem


Tombstone Movie (Michelle’s Quatrain Wrap)

The outlaws had a power base,
controlled the town and usually chased
the law-abiding from the place
and sent them further west.
When Wyatt Earp rode into town
it was to put his own roots down
he’d served as lawman and had found
large measures of success.
He’d brought his wife and brothers too,
all prepared to try something new.
He thought his fighting days were through
He wanted now to rest.
Ike Clanton and an outlaw gang
controlled the town with strum und drang;
the sheriff there weren’t worth a dang.
Here outlaws coalesced.
A marshal’s killed and terror reigns
and brother Virgil takes the reins
then outlaw enmity begins
with their law self-professed.
Doc Holiday is Wyatt’s friend
and to his efforts Doc did lend
his pistol power to defend
a friend he called his best.
When Wyatt met his Josephine
a love at mutual first sight’s seen
she leaves before the showdown scene
and moves to the far west.
An ambush kills or maims his kin
then Wyatt dons a badge again
and vows the outlaws now can’t win,
their deaths pre-empt arrest.
When Holiday beats Ringo Starr
who could have beaten Earp by far
the outlaws are without a star,
their power dispossessed.
Doc gives Wyatt some sound advice:
before with boots off Doc then dies
most entertained by that surprise-
his final thought expressed.
When Wyatt found her, pled his case,
she accepted and they embraced
with love that never was erased,
as Holiday assessed.
© Lawrencealot – September 2, 2013
A/N
Following its cinematic release in 1993, Tombstone was named “One of the 5 greatest Westerns ever made” by True West Magazine.
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Swinburne Octain

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This is a refrain poem, the form was one of many un-named forms invented by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909).

 I  have interpreted the specifications from looking at the work of one of Swinburne’s most dedicated students, AP’s own Eusebius.

 

There are at least TWO significant versions of an octain he created.  This first, presented here is  written in iambic meter, the second  written in trochaic.  The is the first:

 

Rhyming pattern: ABccabAB, where the capital letter indicate verbatim repetition of a line.

The “b” rhymes are all iambic trimeter,  all other lines  are feminine rhymes utilizing footless (or catalectic) iambic tetrameter.

Syllabic:  7/6/7/7/7/6/7/6

 

The first stanza, is repeated as the final stanza of the poem, thus it seems sensible that the minimum poem length should be at least four stanzas.

 

 

The Trochaic version is written with the Rhyming pattern: ababcccb

Syllabic: 9/8/9/8/9/9/9/8

 

The accent is as two trochee feet, an amphibrach and a trochee with all “b” rhymes being catalectic.

Example Poem

 The Tart (Swinburne Octain)

This tart so thin, bewitching,
with beauty, fay and pale.
Her tattoos all parading,
Her ebon curls cascading,
until I am just itching
to see her all in Braille.
This tart so thin, bewitching,
with beauty, fay and pale.

She seems an apparition
both siren myth and tramp,
who sells her pleasures cheaply
to those who want her deeply.
I feel I must audition
to win time with this vamp.
She seems an apparition
both siren myth and tramp,

Her long smooth legs inviting
all who may simply glance.
Though men might once demean her
they’ll dare not come between her
and one she is inviting.
Each man would like his chance.
Her long smooth legs inviting
all who may simply glance.

To me she whispered lightly,
“I’ll show you realms of love.”
Her word were most insightful
Her movements were delightful
I longed to have her nightly
beneath the moon above.
To me she whispered lightly,
“I’ll show you realms of love.”

This tart so thin, bewitching,
with beauty, fay and pale.
Her tattoos all parading,
Her ebon curls cascading,
until I am just itching
to see her all in Braille.
This tart so thin, bewitching,
with beauty, fay and pale. 

© Lawrencealot – June 17, 2013

 

 

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Ballade

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Ballade, not to be confused with a Ballad.
Pronouced:  bahl ODD, rhymes with God.
The ballade typically consists of three stanzas of 8 lines each,
with a concluding 4-line envoi often addressed to a prince.
 The stanzas and envoi employ a refrain in the last line.
The rhyme scheme is ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC.
I found both tetrameter and pentameter poems, but no definition.
Example Poem
The Puppy
An only child I grew up free
of sibling squabbles, which was fine.
No nieces, nephews, there for me,
I was a lone leaf on the vine,
the end of this old family line.
I never felt my life flawed.
I found a puppy in decline.
A puppy was my gift from God.
I found the fellow by a tree,
abandoned, nestled by a pine.
We were then poor, but he was free!
I pledged to feed him food of mine.
The way we bonded seemed divine.
My mom and grandma were both awed.
The puppy never once did whine.
A puppy was my gift from God.
I taught the puppy where to pee.
He learned to sit with just a sign.
Where ever I was, there was he.
I nursed him ’til his eyes did shine
with life,  no more was he supine.
He slept with me;  he never gnawed.
He filled lonesome days with sunshine.
A puppy was my gift from God.
That puppy made my life benign.
Oh, Prince of Peace, men must applaud
the wonder of the grand design.
A puppy is a gift from God.
© Lawrencealot – April 22,2012
Related forms: Ballade, Ballade Stanza, Ballade Supreme, Double Ballade, Canzone II, Chanso, Double Ballade Supreme, Double Refrain Ballade, Double Refrain Ballade Supreme, Grand Ballade or Chant Royal.
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Chant Royal Poetry Form

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A French poetic form and variation of the ballad form,
it consists of five (or three) 11-line stanzas
(there are variations, and some sources allow 8-16 lines)
and an envoi of 5 or 7 lines. The meter is not determined.
Each line should be of the same length.  The form uses a refrain at the end of each stanza and the end of the envoi.
The rhyme scheme is
 ababccddedE with ccddedE or ddedE for the envoi.
The poet may aim to avoid repeating a rhyme word throughout the poem’s length. The form is traditionally used for
stately or heroic subjects.
The envoi  traditionally addresses a “Prince”.
Have seen in both in Tetrameter and Pentameter so take your choice.
Related forms: Ballade, Ballade Stanza, Ballade Supreme, Double Ballade, Canzone II, Chanso, Double Ballade Supreme, Double Refrain Ballade, Double Refrain Ballade Supreme, Grand Ballade or Chant Royal.

Example Poem
Foolish Quests (Chant Royal) (Version 2)
I wooed and won a girl more bold than I.
She led the way, resolving mutual lust.
She urged my hand to feel her velvet thigh
and revel in the softness of her bust.
In focused fascination we’d convene
in what without our love might seem obscene.
A call to duty meant I had to leave;
to think she’d wait would simply be naive.
I married her and bound her with my name
For each of us, out minds now felt relieved.
The future will be what our now became.
I sought success and things success could buy
A house, a boat, income that one could trust.
The babies came, we didn’t have to try,
and diligence at work became my thrust.
I placed my love in virtual quarantine
and let my chase for money intervene.
My wife, neglected home alone, felt peeved;
her urges, often times, I’d not perceived.
Her burning passion rose above a game
and my ineptness she could not believe.
The future will be what our now became.
Her figure beckoned, pleasing to the eye
her manner teased and oft left men non-plussed,
but when she chose, she’d exit with a guy,
and quenched a thirst we’d really not discussed.
My toiling for a future still unseen
had painted me as coldly philistine.
Forsaking beauty that we might have weaved
my tunnel-vision left us both aggrieved.
I thought she knew my love remained the same,
(I should have worn my heart upon my sleeve).
The future will be what our now became.
Oh Prince! prithee, praise, please, and bliss your queen
and growl in lust should she show sultry mien.
One’s love needs nurturing to be believed,
with passion often given and received.
Mere years ought not allow your spark to tame;
it’s grand what frequent ardor can achieve.
The future will be what our now became.
© Lawrence Eberhart – Feb 1, 2016
 
 
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3-Stanza, pentameter version

ChantRoyal2

Foolish Quests (Chant Royal) (Version 4)

We both were under Hebe’s*sway
the day I took a slight detour
and found a road-side hide-away
where she was their delight du jure.
Her ample bust and winsome smile
made eating there each day worthwhile.
Curvaceousness was her domain;
testosterone’s a young man’s bane .
Our fascination thereby excused
her repartee was our champagne.
A future’s bought with minutes used.
With her I had fun things to say
I teased and told her jokes galore
we both enjoyed the interplay.
My friend said, “I think you can score.”
Without a scheme and lacking guile
I doubted that, that’s not my style.
The notion was almost profane
that surely was not my campaign
of such you must be disabused.
We simply flirted while we schmoozed.
A future’s bought with minutes used.
‘Ere long I brought her a bouquet
since we’d established great rapport;
she thought a date would be okay
her “Yes.” set my young heart to soar.
With tactics measured to beguile
she put to me a carnal trial;
I certainly would not abstain
nor did my consciousness complain;
we neither of us felt misused
not once or twice or yet again.
A future’s bought with minutes used.
To bind her so she would not stray,
when Navy sent me from this shore
we wed before I went away;
we were betrothed forevermore.
Though often gone for quite a while,
my need to serve, we’d reconcile.
To propagate, we both were fain
so mostly pregnant she’d remain.
when children came we were enthused.
(The husband doesn’t feel the pain.)
A future’s bought with minutes used.
The Dot.com creed caused her dismay;
(I worked all day, then worked some more
to business greed I’d fallen prey
but then it seemed a needed chore.)
I thought my effort to stockpile
more cash and toys was nothing vile.
A loss of passion was no gain,
so she sought out another swain
to take that which I’d disabused.
(Which here and now, I can explain.)
A future’s bought with minutes used.
The queen, the king must not exile,
a part of love must be tactile.
To strive for gold’s to strive in vain
when you have love and lust to reign
and even if you’re not accused
relationships will still be bruised.
A future’s bought with minutes used.
© Lawrence Eberhart – February 5, 2016
Reworked with assistance from
Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU
Iambic Tetrameter Visual Template
chant royal3

Chatushka

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A Russian Quatrain form. The name derives from the Russian meaning ”to speak fast”. Covering subject that range across the whole human experience and written in a manner that is usually satirical, ironic or humourous this is the Russian equivalent to theLimerick.
 
Form Type:           Metrical
Origins:                 Russian
Creator:                Unknown
Number of Lines:  4
Rhyme Scheme:  a,b,a,b or a,b,c,b or a,a,b,b
Meter:                   Trochaic Tetrameter
 
 
Rules
1. The form is composed of a single quatrain, though often they are placed together with others in a string, in either case each quatrain is a complete self contained unit.
 
2. The most common rhyme scheme is a,b,a,b though a,b,c,b is also fairly common. The a,a,b,b rhyme scheme is fairly rare.
 
3. The form is written using trochaic tetrameter. Though it is common to use catalectic final feet in a line giving a strongly stressed ending.
 
4. Content wise Chastushkas cover all subjects, though the style is usually satirical, ironic or humourous, tending towards lewd,
 
5. Traditionally they are recited to music, if they are in a string then there is a musical interlude between them to give the audience time to laugh.
 
6. Often they are composed on the spur of the moment and used in contests, such Chastushka are highly prized.
 
Pasted from <http://bensonofjohn.co.uk/poetry/formssearch.php?searchbox=Chastushka> 

Get Back Chicken
Chicken, get back; don’t peck me
For the cleaver in my hand
Just think, could be, soon chopping thee.
Dinner captured, cleaned and panned.
 
© February 16, 2012
Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
 
Written for Poetry Soup Member Contest: Chastushka Form-Russian Poetry 
 
 
Example Poems 
 
Three Chastushkas 
 
Mabel’s clothing at their feet
under chairs and kitchen table.
Freddy focused not on neat,
Freddy merely wanted Mabel. 
Scribbled thoughts upon a napkin
Serve as plans of grand intention.
Dreams without an active effort
freeze in idle cold suspension.
Anxious Arabs show misgiving
watching western people living.
letting females speak their voices
countermanding masters choices. 
 
© Lawrencealot –  January 23, 2013 
 
 
 
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Actually not one of each, I omitted abab!

Constanza

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The Constanza, created by Connie Marcum Wong, consists of five or more 3-line stanzas.
Each line has a set meter of eight syllables.
The first lines of all the stanzas can be read successively as an independent poem,
with the rest of the poem weaved in to express a deeper meaning.
The first lines convey a theme written in monorhyme,
while the second and third lines of each stanza rhyme together.
Rhyme scheme: abb acc add aee aff… (abbaccaddaeeaff…)
Isosyllabic: 8 syllables
See Trick Poetry
The Desert

To venture forth in desert lands
Most city folk would likely shun
but wonders grow beneath that sun.
To trek with cheer on arid sands
requires a sense of how  things fit,
for God has made an art of it.
To ramble where the cactus stands
and know that life support is found
for man if he should walk this ground
and pick their fruits with your own hands
gives one respect for synergy
which can’t be random, seems to me.
This joy a cowboy understands.
The hospitality exists
most everywhere, and life persists.

(c) Lawrencealot – April 7, 2012
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English Ballet (bal-lett)

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English Ballet (bal-lett)
stanzaic, written in any multiple of quatrains or quintains.
(The quatrains can be expanded to quintains by breaking L1 of each stanza into 2 lines at the end of the first phrase.)
Metered when quatrains, L1-L3 tetrameter, L4 dimeter.
Rhyme Pattern: aaaB cccB dddB, etc.  (aaaBcccBdddB)
Metered when quintains, L1, L2, and L5 dimeter, L3 & L4 tetrameter.
Rhyme Pattern: AbbbA AcccA AdddA, etc.  (AbbbAAcccAAdddA)
Description of form a copy & paste from PoetryMagnumOpus.com
http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2247
Example Poem
Fall They Must  (English Ballet – Quintains)
The snowflakes fall
so powder dry,
they seem but dust upon the sky
unseen ’til on the ground they lie
The snowflakes fall.
The snowflakes fall
in twisting flight
large enough to hold when they light
on mittens to view with delight.
The snowflakes fall.
The snowflakes fall
They’re big and wet.
They taste good on my tongue, and yet
I’ll hate to shovel them I’ll bet.
The snowflakes fall.
© Lawrencealot – December 23, 2012
Visual Templates for both styles:

 

Flung

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This form was created by Larry Eberhart, aka, Lawrencealot on allpoetry.com
Type: Stanzaic
Meter: Tetrameter or Pentameter
Presented as two or more Octaves
Rhyming pattern: ababcccc ddeeffff
If the poem is extended it should continue alternating couplet and cross rhyme
for the first quatrain of each octave.
Example Poem
What Happened to George?
“A gastropod mollusk is what I am,”
said George to his host. “And I have long found,
that being submerged (if you give a damn),
is sometimes better than up on the ground.
If I get too dry I might desiccate,
then I’d be dinner for you and your mate,
but now I can slime noxious stuff you’ll hate.
But I’ll feed you for life if you just wait.”
The beetle had thought, this slug he’d deceived.
Now he did not know what should be believed.
“The farmer’s intending a toxic plan
to kill us all– perhaps he just began.”
I need a mate who’s many rows away.
I cannot get to her within one day.
You can go fetch her, I’ll tell you the way,
Then both of us will in your burrows stay.
The beetle knew two was better than one.
If there’s an option for unending food
instead of foods poisoned– had it begun?
he’d best collaborate with George the dude.
Both slugs were omnivorous slugs you see,
So George deigned to explain how it will be.
You’ve heard tuna called “Chicken of the Sea.
Well Chicken of ground shall be Joyce and me.”
In days some thirty eggs from George’s mate.
produced the protein for the beetles plate.
The beetle got smart and let some eggs hatch.
It just meant they’d have more earthworms to catch.
The beetles Kentucky Fried Sluggets sold
like heaters in Vermont when it gets cold.
The farmers profits jumped about two-fold,
Explain? That bright slug George, he just grew old.
© Lawrencealot – March 3, 2013
This poem answers the following question by Sir Mike bike
Get me a wheelchair!” Cried the sick bug,
“For I have no legs (because I’m a slug!)
A very nice beetle all dressed in bright black,
Said “Never mind slug just jump on my back…..”
The slug (quite determined to get a free ride)
Now dumped common sense and he now dumped all pride,
He slid on the beetles back with such ease,
Said ”Take me to market as quick as you please!”
Now the beetle pretending hard to be nice,
Said “Certainly sir, there’ll be no price!”
“But first I have to visit my mum,
You can come too my little chum!”
So down it the ground where black beetles gorge,
Went poor Mr. Slug (whose name was George)
He never more was seen again…..
Pray what happened….can you explain?
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Huitain

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Huitain

Type:

Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Isosyllabic, Simple

Description:

A complete poem composed of one ballade stanza: eight or ten-syllable isosyllabic lines rhyming ababbcbc.

Also known as the Monk’s Tale Stanza.

Origin:

French

Schematic:

ababbcbc

Rhythm/Stanza Length:

8

Line/Poem Length:

8

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/001/145.shtml>

My Thanks to Charles Weatherford for the fine resource above.

  • Huitain, is an octastich, a poem in 8 lines. It is made up of a single Ballade stanza without an envoy. The verse form was most popular in the 16th century and was often used for epigrams in the 18th century. One source suggests the Hutain may have begun in Spain with the simple 8 syllable by 8 line frame which is typical of early Spanish verse. Which came first and who influenced who, who knows. The French were sometimes known to use the frame for a collaborative poem between 2 or more poets. Each poet contributing a hutain around a central theme.The Huitain is an octastich written in octasyllabic lines, the most common rhyme scheme ababbcbc.

 

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=690#huitain>

 My Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the fine resource above.
The true Huitain is a single verse, eight line poem with eight syllables per line.
The French form began as the Spanish with eight lines of eight syllables, but it also allowed for the continuation of the poem in additional eight line stanzas. It was even accepted as a form of collaborative poetry with several poets each contributing their own eight line stanza.
The English, with their fondness for iambic pentameter, also accepted ten syllable lines, but to me this strays too far from the original intent of the form. Myself, I stuck to the original, Spanish rules. My example is eight lines of eight syllables each. 🙂

Various rhyme schemes that have been accepted:
French/English #1: ababbcbc
French/English #2: abbaacac
Spanish #1: ababacac
Spanish #2: abbaacca 
Example Poem
Today’s Press Too (Huitan – French/English # 2)
“First get your facts said young Mark Twain,
then …distort them as you (may) please,”
an editorial newsprint tease.
The politicians all do feign
to patiently their points explain,
but facts seem bothersome at best,
when asked details they will abstain.
They give just “views” then let you guess.
Lawrencealot – November 12, 2012
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