Terzanelle

The Terzanelle is a poetry type which is a combination of  the villanelle and the terza rima forms. 

       

It is a 19-line poem consisting of five interlocking tercets plus a concluding quatrain in which the first and third lines of the first triplet appear as refrains. The middle line of each triplet is repeated, reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center line of the next-to-the-last stanza which appears in the quatrain.

        

The rhyme and refrain scheme for the triplets is as follows:

ABA' bCB cDc dED eFE fFAA' or

ABA' bCB cDc dED eFE fFAA'

   

Meter is Iambic Pentamter

Example Poem:

Simpler times   (Terzanelle)    

The simple times remembered are worthwhile.

Those memories are treasured gifts to keep.

We were innocent and lived without guile.

        

Our curiosity was very deep,

inviting us always to be alive.

Those memories are treasured gifts to keep.

        

Adults have designed their plans to survive

we have a docket that precludes just being--

inviting us always to be alive.

        

Adults predispose and look without seeing.

Now  we can't dawdle, we all must compete

we have a docket that precludes just being--

        

As kids, a mistake was not a defeat,

we had no agenda but just to be

Now  we can't dawdle, we all must compete

        

Adults must relearn that gift, to be free.

The simple times remembered are worthwhile.

we had no agenda but just to be.

We were innocent and lived without guile.

By Lawrencealot, © 2012, All rights reserved.

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