How about we start off 2008 by trying a triolet, folks? - Daniel So, what is a
Triolet ... simple:
About five hundred years ago when lyric poetry was the rage, poetic forms tended to become more and more tests of raw skill. A poet had to be disciplined. There were the riddles, puns, and acrostics and all were inside verse. Most forms have died ("Thank God", you would probably say). We moved from structure, technique and strict form to imagery, metaphor, free verse and all that other good "stuff".
Going back at least to the thirteenth century, triolets were short, usually witty poems, just perfect for tucking into a box of candy or some flowers. Its name comes from the use of the key line three times (French "tri"). A similar form, the rondeau, means "round poem" and also refers to the key feature of repetition (we all know, "Row, row, row your boat", which is still referred to as a "round").
The
triolet has
eight lines.
The first line is used three times and the second line is repeated once. So the requirement for rhyme words is easy, and the eight lines really comes down to only five different ones
It's best to begin a triolet with a statement or observation.
Note from Daniel:
The usual rhyme scheme in a triolet is:
A
B
a - Rhymes with A
A - Whole line identical with A
a - Rhymes with A
b - Rhymes with B
A - Whole line identical with A
B - Whole line identical with B Now here are three examples before you try it::
from Norm:
Twin Tower Triolet Try, oh let those souls know peace
Grant us the will and more, the power
We’ll focus in through tears that blur
Try, Oh let those souls know peace
They are gone, but their spirits stir
The pain is ours not just the towers
Try, Oh let those souls know peace
Grant us the will and more, the power
from
Conrad Geller (printed with permission):
You have to write a triolet
If you would make your name immortal.
To get a form that's fit and set.
You have to write a triolet.
From free verse all you ever get
Is just another yawn or chortle.
You have to write a triolet
If you would make your name immortal. from "
Unknown":
I loved you, and will love again
If all the circumstance is right.
I am the faithfullest of men.
I loved you, and will love again.
Just re-create, by word or pen,
That lake, those trees, that starry night
I loved you. I will love again
If all the circumstance is right.
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N O W I T ' S Y O U R T U R N ! ! !
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Triolet ~ F.O.M. January/February 2008 (Read 413 times)
