Triolet
A triolet (/ˈtraɪ.əlɨt/ or US /ˌtriː.əˈleɪ/) is a stanza poem of eight lines. Its rhyme scheme is ABaAabAB and often all lines are in iambic tetrameter: the first, fourth and seventh lines are identical, as are the second and final lines, thereby making the initial and final couplets identical as well.
Examples[edit]
The form stems from medieval French poetry - the earliest written examples are from the late 13th century. The triolet is a close cousin of the rondeau, another French verse form emphasizing repetition and rhyme. Some of the earliest known triolets composed in English were written by Patrick Cary, briefly a Benedictine at Douai, who purportedly used them in his devotions. British poet Robert Bridges reintroduced the triolet to the English language, where it enjoyed a brief popularity among late-nineteenth-century British poets.
An effective conventional triolet achieves two things; firstly the naturalness of the refrain and secondly the alteration of the refrain's meaning.
- "Birds At Winter"
- Around the house the flakes fly faster,
- And all the berries now are gone
- From holly and cotoneaster
- Around the house. The flakes fly! – faster
- Shutting indoors the crumb-outcaster
- We used to see upon the lawn
- Around the house. The Flakes fly faster
- And all the berries now are gone!
Notice how in the last line the punctuation is altered; this is common although not strictly in keeping with the original form. Furthermore, the fact that the 'berries now are gone' has a new relevance; the birds are going unfed.
Triolets are a relatively rare form.
External links[edit]
- How Great My Grief by Thomas Hardy
- Triolet by Robert Bridges
- Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Attributed to Martin Luther by A. E. Stallings
- The Country Wife (a double triolet) by Dana Gioia
- Triolet by Wendy Cope
- Valentine by Wendy Cope
- Worker Bees by Gail White(Dave Baldwin)
- Gilda & Johnny, a triolet sequence by Antonia Clark
- The Triolet by Don Marquis
- Examples of Triolet
- Triolet Workshop
