Retourne

Like so many other French forms, the Retourne 

is all about repetition. It contains four quatrains and each line has eight syllables. 

The trick is that the first stanza's second line must also be the second stanza's first line,

the first stanza's third line is the third stanza's first, 

and the first stanza's fourth line is the fourth stanza's first. 

Retournes do not have to rhyme.

Example Poem

Abandoned

I'd loved her only all my life.

She found another to her taste.

She left me-- I now have no wife.

New city, no friends; joys erased. 

She found another to her taste.

I begged, pleaded, asked her to stay 

"I miss you, come back! what a waste, 

keeping your lover is okay." 

She left me-- I now have no wife.

Anquish bestirred me. I tried drink. 

But quit to give my boys a life.

Work, feed the boys, cry, try to think.

New city, no friends; joys erased. 

It took a long while, 'ere I tried 

to date-- I was feeling disgraced

How could I ever lose my bride?

© Lawrencealot - April, 2012

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RemyLa Rhyme

The RemyLa Rhyme Form, a form created by Laura Lamarca, consists of 4 stanzas. 

Each stanza has four lines.

 The syllable count per stanza is 8/10/12/8 and

 the rhyme scheme is abca defd ghig jklj.

The first word of stanza 1 must also be the last word of stanza 4. 

The last word of stanza 1 must also be the first word of stanza 2 and the last word of stanza 2 must be the first word of stanza 3.

Finally, the last word of stanza 3 must also be the first word of stanza 4.

J1, x, x, x, x, x, x, a

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, b

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, c

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, A1

A1, x, x, x, x, x, x, d

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, e

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, f

x, x, x, x, x, x , x, D1

D1, x, x, x, x, x, x, g

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, h

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, i

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, G1

G1, x, x, x, x, x, x, j

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, k

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, l

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, J

Example Poem

Cant Kick

Pants hanging around our butt-crack

We met, said "Howdy", got a bit rowdy

We'd rather play street ball, bounding and bouncing here

than go to the gym or the track.

Track my progress and you will find

I'm a kicker- and no one is quicker.

I simply own this ball game when played on this block.

I'm double-teamed and I don't mind.

Mind you that's in this neighborhood.

Today we we're aiming at taming foes

that kick a wicked ball in Homer's home ground.

There's never been a doubt they're good.

Good enough to stand a real chance.

With me doubled and tripled we did lose.

A loss costs the losers a high-wire pair of shoes.

Next time it could cost me my pants.

(Lawrencealot - June 22, 2012

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Redondilla

NOTE:I have included the definition from two different sources here.  The first specifies the minimum number of quatrains, the 2nd does not.

The 2nd requires that the meter be TROCHAIC, the first is indifferent.

Well, boys and girls - indifferent wins.  I spent some time on 5 different sites and found NOT ONE trochaic poem in English, and several that did not have FOUR STANZAS.

This is simply a poem consisting of four quatrains in tetrameter, preferably iambic  or trochaic.  The rhyme scheme can be aabb, abab, or abcb.  (Although some sources will advise otherwise, syllable count is secondary to rhythmic flow.)

redondilla, a Spanish stanza form consisting of four trochaic lines, 

usually of eight syllables each, with a rhyme scheme of abba. 

Quatrains in this form with a rhyme scheme of abab, 

sometimes also called redondillas, are more commonly known as serventesios. 

Redondillas have been common in Castilian poetry since the 16th century. 

The word is derived from the Spanish redondo, meaning “round.”

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/494744/redondilla

Visual Template (for iambic tetrameter)

Empat Empat

Empat Empat form poetry

Early form of rhyming verse from Malaysia.

Four Four line stanza

Stair case refrain of line 1

Meter:  8 or 10 syllable per line - though I have see it with but 4

Rhyme Scheme   Abab cAca adAd eaeA

Example Poem

Sentry Pup       (Empat Empat)

While set on pause I'm actively alert.

My ears are peaked and will not miss a sound.

I'll rest my head on any shoe or shirt

or artifact of master's that I've found.

Though not so big, or armed with mighty jaws,

while set on pause I'm actively alert.

I hear the flapping crows and hear their caws

and I ignore the sounds that cannot hurt.

I'll sense intruders, stealthy and covert

I am a biological alarm.

While set on pause I'm actively alert.

Protecting all from things that may cause harm.

When not on paws' I'm set with throttle full

to romp with my boy through the grass and dirt,

to chase a ball of find some thing to pull.

While set on pause I'm actively alert.

  © Lawrencealot - March 10, 2013

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Duotrain

Tuesday, March 05, 2013
9:11 AM

Duotrain is a form invented by Bhaskar Datta of Allpoetry

It is a four stanza poem
It has no metric requirement
but each stanza alternates between 8 and six syllable lines.
Each Stanza is required to begin with the same character of the alphabet.
Rhyme Scheme:  xaxa xbxb xcxc xdxd

Example Poem

Let's Write a Duotrain

To write a Duotrain today
use keyboard or a pen.
Find rhyming word to end line two,
and on line four again.

There are but two rhymes in each verse,
how easy can it be?
Eight syllables in line number
one, and again in three.

Take two away (syllables I
mean), leaving six right here.
For on even numbered lines, that
is all that should appear.

Take care that the same letter starts
the stanza every time.
That defines the Duotrain, that
and its specific rhyme.

© Larry Eberhart, aka, Lawrencealot, Oct. 14, 2012


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Octameter

Octameter, created by Shelley A. Cephas, 

is a poem made up of 16 lines

divided into two stanzas of 8 lines each.

Each line has a syllable count of 5.

The set rhyme scheme is: a/b/c/d/e/d/f/d  g/h/c/g/i/g/d/d.

I found this form defined on Shadow Poetry.

Of all the poetry forms I have studied none has been affixed with a more misleading and potentially confusing name.

Example Poem

T-aint Octameter  (Octameter)

Most mis-named form seen--

the Octameter.

That's a standard line

length measured in feet.

I ambs, trochees, such

which decide the beat.

Confusing girth with

length was not too neat.

It's an octastitch.

Can't quarrel at all.

If this form were mine

There'd be a name switch.

Say.. an octapent;

gone the need to bitch.

Current name is scat,

Cephas should fix that.

© Februrary 5, 2013

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Quadrilew

Created by C. G. V. Lewis, the Quadrilew is a form of quatrain poem
 with an abab rhyming scheme, repeating lines, and contains an alternating syllable structure.

.

This is a stanzaic, form requiring 4 quatrains.
It is syllabic with two forms, either 5/6/5/6  repeating or 6/5/6/5 repeating.
Minimum 16 lines, No meter specified.
Refrains: The Nth line of the first quatrain is the first line of the Nth quatrain.

In the first verse, the poet may either start with a five or six syllable line.
The poem requires FOUR quatrains

Rhyme pattern: aBAB2 Baba Abab B2aba, when the capitalized letters represent the three refrain lines.



VERSE ONE,
Line 1, 5 syllables.
Line 2, 6 syllables.
Line 3, 5 syllables.
Line 4, 6 syllables.

VERSE TWO,
Line 1, (which is a REPEAT of line 2 of the FIRST verse) has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.

VERSE THREE,
Line 1, (which is a REPEAT of line 3 of the first verse) has 5 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 6 syllables.

VERSE FOUR,
Line 1, (which is a REPEAT of line 4 of the first verse) has 6 syllables.
Line 2 new line of 5 syllables.
Line 3 new line of 6 syllables.
Line 4 new line of 5 syllables.

If the first line of verse one has 6 syllables then the pattern is
Verse 1, 6565,
Verse 2, 5656,
Verse 3, 6565,
Verse 4 5656: (the rhyme pattern still being abab.)

If wishing to create a longer poem then the next verse (5)
must be a completely fresh set of four lines,
these being used as before in the following three verses.

Example Poem

My Goat   (Quadrilew)

My goat can't pedal yet.

My goat likes to ride

when we go to the vet.

He likes apples fried.

My goat likes to ride

buses, trains, and , you bet

cars-- on the inside!

(He don't like gettin' wet. )

When we go to the vet

He climbs up astride

my back and that's no sweat.

my goat's satisfied.

He likes apples fried

if appetite's been whet.

Laughs he will provide,

he's more a friend than pet.

© Lawrencealot - Janyary 20,2016

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This is the 5/6 option

This is th 6/5 option

Quadrilou

This is a form invented by Mary Lou Healy, aka Mlou on Allpoetry
The form consists of two octets
with rhyme pattern abcdabcd abcdabcd
meter Iambic
Each Octet consists of two Quatrains, where
Line 1 is tetrameter
Line 2 Dimeter
Line 3 Trimeter
Line 4 Dimeter

Example Poem

Let's write a Quadrilou today.
It's really fun.
A tetrameter line
will start each verse.
That's where you have the most to say,
you're quickly done
because of form's design
which is quite terse.

Just four syllables are in play
in any one
of even lines; resign
yourself, don't curse.
Yet every line can grow one way-
a rhyme end-run,
use feminine  end-rhyme
that's  not adverse.


© Lawrencealot - October 29, 2012

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Quatern

The Quatern is a French form that consists of four quatrains (4-line stanzas),

with 8 syllables in each line.

The first line of stanza 1 is repeated as a refrain line

as the second line of stanza 2, 

the third line of stanza 3 and the last line of stanza 4.

There is no set meter or rhyme scheme.

Possible rime schemes  -  virtually any are ok

i. Abab, cAca, adAd, eaeA

ii. Aabb, aAbb, bbAa, bbaA

iii. Axax, xAxa, axAx, xaxA

Example Poem

Write a Quatern

This line shall serve as a refrain.

Each stanza moves it down again.

This form is in tetrameter,

but may be done pentameter.

      

Though that does go against the grain.

This line shall serve as a refrain.

The first two lines were fine iambs,

But in the next, that meter scrams.

      

No meter is required at all

which makes choosing good words, a ball.

This line shall serve as a refrain.

Rhyming with refrain is no strain.

     

Just two more lines will do the trick.

Then we are finished pretty quick

You're forced to "a" rhyme once again.

This line shall serve as a refrain.

© Lawrencalot - April 1, 2012

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Retourne

Like so many other French forms, the Retourne 

is all about repetition. It contains four quatrains

and each line has eight syllables. 

The trick is that the first stanza's second line must 

also be the second stanza's first line, 

the first stanza's third line is the third stanza's first, 

and the first stanza's fourth line is the fourth stanza's first. 

Retournes do not have to rhyme.

Example Poem

Abandoned

I'd loved her only all my life.

She found another to her taste.

She left me-- I now have no wife.

New city, no friends; joys erased. 

She found another to her taste.

I begged, pleaded, asked her to stay 

"I miss you, come back! what a waste, 

keeping your lover is okay." 

She left me-- I now have no wife.

Anquish bestirred me. I tried drink. 

But quit to give my boys a life.

Work, feed the boys, cry, try to think.

New city, no friends; joys erased. 

It took a long while, 'ere I tried 

to date-- I was feeling disgraced

How could I ever lose my bride?

© Lawrencealot - April, 2012

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Spiral Quatrain

This form was created by © Amanda J. Norton, aka  - Dark Butterfly
 on July 13,2012

Stanzaic, 4 quatrains
Rhyme Scheme: abba        ccdd        efef        abba
syllabic               5/6/7/8   8/7/6/5   5/6/7/8   8/7/6/5

Four Quatrains, no specific meter requirement.

Must be Centered.

Example Poem:

Write a Spiral Quatrain

A spiral quatrain. 

Starts with five syllables, 

then like adding decibles, 

each line you add one more again. 

Until here.  At eight now you stop. 

then decrease by one each hop 

downward until by jive

the count reaches five.

Do that all once more, 

but with a diff'rent  rhyme. 

Until stanzas you have four. 

You may write these poems any time. 

There is not a required refrain.

Here it seems defensible, 

and it's embraceable, 

A spiral quatrain. 

© Lawrencealot - July 13, 2012

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Tempo Composto

Tempo Composto means "time's up" in Latin.

A form invented by L. Allen Bacon, aka Allen a Dale

The first three stanzas of a “tempo composto” are made up of
1) A Spondee (DA-DA)
2) two lines of Dactyl (DA-da-da)
3) 12 syllables free verse.

The fourth stanza differs in that the final line is only
4 syllables of free verse.

The rhyme pattern is
a-a-x-x
b-b-x-x
c-c-x-x
d-d-x-x

Looks good centered, but that is not a requirement.

Example Poem

Ride in the Country

Roadside

countryside

Lemonade

For sale sign draws me in to find they have just corn. 

Quite hot!

Day is shot.

I have got

no lemonade. Drive on looking for the next stand.

Need gas,

Still I pass

twenty-one

stations looking for fruit stand, then run out of gas.

Walk back!

Station sez,

Out of gas,

Got lemonade.

(c) Lawrencealot - May 30, 2012

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Time Coupletnelle

This is a form invented by MystiqueWizzard, aka
Alberto Jose Alvarez Gonzalez


The Time Coupletnelle is a 16-line poem conformed by 8 couplets
with a rhyme scheme  AabbccddccddaA*AA*,
The syllabic progression  is: 9-8-7-6-7-8-9-9

The first 3 couplets represent a “plea”
the 4th couplet is an assertion that portrays what the plea evokes;
the last 3 couplets are the conclusion based on the first 4 couplets.

The themes may vary
but basically they´re centered in love, sadness, hope or another strong
emotion worth exploring. It was named “Time Coupletnelle “because it is
set in a progression of time and the visual shape is like an hour glass.
The structure should always be centered for visual effect.


Example Poem:

I Must Ask

I can't carry on without your love.

I go through the actions, just kind of.

I think you like me but how much?

I daydream thinking of your touch.

I wait all week to date you

I'm bewitched is my friends' view.

Action now is required,

waiting time has expired.

This week, waiting time is thru.

A diamond makes its debut.

You'll see how much you are desired,

how much you're treasured and admired.

I'll bring a rose and a turtle dove.

I'll be your hand, if you'll  be my glove.

I cannot carry without your love.

I'll be your hand, if you'll  be my glove.

© Lawrencealot - October 2, 2012

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