Poetic Forms: The Triolet

by Conrad Geller
In the Golden Age of lyric poetry, about five hundred years ago, as the French Middle Ages slipped toward the Renaissance, poetic forms tended to become more and more tests of raw skill, like the NBA's Slam-Dunk Contest. A poet needed as many as thirty-six rhyme words for some of the more monstrous concoctions. Compounding the difficulties were the riddles, puns, and acrostics that were supposed to be imbedded in the verses.

Most of those poetic types are mercifully only museum pieces now, as more modern poets began to emphasize imagery and feeling over technique. But there is one of those old French forms, the oldest and simplest of them all, that deserves a look from the contemporary poet: the triolet.

Going back at least to the thirteenth century, triolets are short, usually witty poems, just perfect for tucking into a box of candy or some flowers. Its name comes from the repetition 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").

Of the triolet's 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 come down to only five different ones--easier than it seems at first. Let's look at an example (Triolets, though very popular during several periods on the Continent, have not abounded in English poetry, so my examples are coming immodestly from my own pen.):

It's best to begin a triolet with a statement or observation, something like this:


     You have to write a triolet
     If you would make your name immortal.

The third line rhymes with the first:


     To get a form that's fit and set

Then you repeat the first line, so the first four lines are

     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.

Next, write another line that rhymes with the first line. Here you should change the viewpoint or add another idea:

     From free verse all you ever get

(now a rhyme with the second line):

     Is just another yawn or chortle.

You are finished, except for repeating the first two lines. Here is the whole simple poem:

     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.

Here are a couple more, more conventionally on the subject of love:

     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.

* * *

     I feel with wonder and surprise
     The hard, hard softness of your touch;
     Then your bright, swift, and careful eyes
     I feel with wonder and surprise.
     Enough, for rage is sure to rise
     If once again, and then not much,
     I feel with wonder and surprise
     The hard, hard softness of your touch.

Simple but elegant, isn't it? And just the thing to show the recipient of your gift or card that you cared enough to play with language just for him/her. Sure you can do it.

I will mos deff. Try this...

Ever so often I forget my place
And I sometimes overstep my bounds
Searching for answers in her eyes and face
Ever so often I forget my place
And find solace in her embrace
Seeking answers to questions I have not found
Ever so often I forget my place
And I sometimes overstep my bounds

Your eyes can trace the space between
A rose's thorn and angel's hair
They quench a thirst that's seldom seen
Your eyes can trace the space between
April blossoms with vision keen
Seduction with a hold unfair
Your eyes can trace the space between
A rose's thorn and angel's hair

very nice indeed *nodding*

ok...here's my contribution to this (not that good, but i'm learning!):

Songs are poetry put to music
I ingest and swallow freely
Overexposure can make you sick
Songs are poetry put to music
A capella, w/ sound or acoustic
Lyrics always flow so smoothly
Songs are poetry put to music
I ingest and swallow freely

© 2003, D. Andrews, all rights reserved.

eh...I'll try again later

Yo, sorry it took me SO long to respond to this, I've been a little pre-occupied. I wrote this when I first read it but just forgot to post it. I'm not sure if I got the concept right but I gave it a try.

just being in your space is divine to me
i get high off your untouchable pressence
just the content of your words are sublime to me
just being in your space is divine to me
just being near your heart is "cloud nine" to me
i get full off your incredible essence
just being in your space is divine to me
i gets high off you untouchable pressence

up

Thanks for the lesson, here's my first assignment:

All the people that I call friend
Are the ones most dear to me
They'll be there 'til the bitter end
All the people that I call friend
On this I'll never break or bend
More important than my family
All the people that I call friend
Are the ones most dear to me

for Nat'l Poetry month