Double Refrain Ballade

Double Refrain Ballade

This is identical to the Ballade, except that both Lines 4 and 8 from the first stanza become refrains in succeeding stanzas.

The rhyme scheme is:  abaBbcbC

                                     abaBbcbC

                                     abaBbcbC

                                     bBcC

Example Poem

Courtroom Follies  ( Double Refrain Ballade)

"She had three kids I understand,

were any of those children male?"?

"No." "Were they girls?" (I won't expand.)

Let's hope that logic will prevail.

Describe the person at the jail-

"Quite bald but with much facial hair."

"Was he a male or a female?"

These questions have been asked, I swear.

"What gear were you in," came the demand?

"at impact?" he asked from the rail.

A shirt and Gucci sweats, my man."

Let's hope that logic will prevail.

I wasn't drinking Ginger ale,

it was just Ginger's Ale I'd share

i drove 'cus couldn't walk so well.

These questions have been asked, I swear.

"Where did the helicopter land?"

"Near marker three, right near the trail."

"do you know where that is offhand?"

Let's hope that logic will prevail.

"'Tween marker two and four as well."

You must set forth question with care

for some folks have strange tales to tell.

These questions have been asked, I swear.

So ask a friend to post your bail.

Let's hope that logic will prevail.

And take along clean underwear.

These questions have been asked, I swear.

© Lawrencealot - January 20, 2014

Related forms: Ballade, Ballade Stanza, Ballade Supreme, Double Ballade,  Chanso, Double Ballade Supreme, Double Refrain Ballade, Double Refrain Ballade Supreme, Grand Ballade or Chant Royal.

Visual Template

Ballade Stanza

A Ballade Stanza or Monk's Tale Stanza (So named because it was used in  the Monk's Tale in The Canterbury Tales (1386–1400) by Geoffrey Chaucer )

Is an ten syllable isosyllabic octave, usually written in conjunction with other stanzas (formally five stressed syllables)

Rhyme Scheme: ababbcbc

Example Poem

Reprieve      (Ballade Stanza)        

My puppy wasn't there when I got home         

which was unusual in every way.         

He'd always wait to play; he'd never roam.         

"Honey- my grandma had sad things to say,        

"Hit chasing car… then they took him away."         

I'd never cried the way I cried that night.         

Surprise! His leg was in a cast next day;         

the driver smiled and made my life alright.

         

© Lawrencealot - January 16, 2014

Related forms: Ballade, Ballade Stanza, Ballade Supreme, Double Ballade,  Chanso, Double Ballade Supreme, Double Refrain Ballade, Double Refrain Ballade Supreme, Grand Ballade or Chant Royal.

Visual Template

Strambotto

The Strambotto has three primary versions:

All are presented here.

The Siciliano,  rhymed abababab

The Tuscano,  rhymed ababccdd (preferred), abababcc,  aabbccdd

and the Romagnuolo, rhymed ababccdd

It is:

Lyrical - Written as one octave, or with the Tuscano, possibly one sestet.  It you wish to write several stanza it becomes an Ottava Rima.

Rhymed - Each with its specific pattern(s).

Isosyllabic - Each line has precisely eleven syllables.

Below are additional resources with history and added information.  At the end you will find my Visual Templates.

________________________________

Strambotto

This was an early form of Italian poetry that was set to music by composers of the frottola and madrigals of the 16th century. The poetry is set into very strict stanzas of eight lines of eleven syllables. This type of stanza is known as rispetto or ottava rima. The musical rispetto was usualy dedicated to a lady love, Aside from the fact the ottava rima had no set form length and later became Iambic it also came from literature and generally had multiple stanzas, but musical version, the strambotto was typically created with a single stanza.

There are three basic types of strambotto and they are identified by their rhyme scheme.

1. Strambotto Siciliano.

2. Strambotto Toscano.

3. Strambotto Romagnuolo

4. Variations to the Strambotto

1. Strambotto Siciliano

It will be noted that this is similar to the Sicilian Octave, but follows the Strombotto rules and consists of eight strict hendecasyllable lines (11 syllables), and similarly for multi stanzas.

a. b. a. b. a. b. a. b. 

2. Strambotto Toscano

This form is most used for stand alone poetry, but can be used for multiple stanzas. When writing muliple stanzas (as in a song), it is usual to link each stanza by either a refrain or using the whole or part of the last line of the previous stanza as the first line of the next stanza:

a. b. a. b. a. b. c. c. 

3. Strambotto Romagnuolo

This form has the octave constructed from a Sicilian quatrain and a quatrain of two couplets. The same rules apply about stand alone poems, and multiple stanzas.

a. b. a. b. c. c. d. d

Pasted from <http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/2013Challenge/form20.html>

My thanks to the poetsgarret.

The Strambotto is thought to have influenced the development of the Sicilian Octave and the birth of the sonnet. The Strambotto is one of the earliest Italian verse forms and can be found in works from the 12th through the 19th centuries usually set to music. The name comes from the Occitan,estrabot which refers to sentimental and or amorous rhymes. Sources suggest the early Strambotto varied between 6 or 8 lines long however it was eventually recognized as an 8 line form holding fast to a strict 11 syllable line. Rhyme seems to be delineated by territory, Tuscan, Sicilian and Romano. The frame appears to be the same as the Ottavo Rima Stanza. However, the forms are quite different in that the Strombotto is limited to a single lyrical, octave while the Ottavo Rima is a narrative, stanzaic verse written with any number of octaves. 

 IN ADDITION THE OTTAVO RIMA may be decasyllabic LARRY

The Strambotto is:

• lyrical.
• an octastich, a poem in 8 lines. (When written in narrative stanzas it is better known as Ottava Rima)
• syllabic, strict hendecasyllabic lines. In English it has been found in iambic pentameter.
• rhymed, most often follows the Tuscan patterns of abababcc and occasionally aabbccdd and is sometimes called Strambotto Tuscano. TheSicilian Strambottos followed the rhyme pattern of abababab and the Strambotto Romagnuolo carries a rhyme scheme of ababccdd.

Pasted from <http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/index.php?showtopic=2065>

My thanks to PoetryMagnumOpus

Strambotto (Sicilian)

Type:	Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Other Requirement, Stanzaic
Description:	Hendecasyllabic lines rhymed abababab. Usually is lyrical and sentimental or amorous.
Origin:	Sicily
Schematic:	Rhyme: abababab Meter: xxxxxxxxxxx
Rhythm/Stanza Length:	8
See Also:	Classical Hendecasyllable, Lyric, Octave, Sicilian Octave, Strambotto (Tuscan)
Status:	Incomplete

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/002/299.shtml>

Strambotto (Tuscan)

Type:	Structure, Metrical Requirement, Rhyme Scheme Requirement, Other Requirement, Stanzaic
Description:	Stanzas of 6 or 8 hendecasyllabic lines rhymed ababccdd (preferred), abababcc, aabbccdd, ababcc, ababab, or aabbcc. Usually is lyrical and sentimental or amorous.
Origin:	Italian
Schematic:	Rhyme: ababccdd (preferred), abababcc, aabbccdd, ababcc, ababab, or aabbcc Meter: xxxxxxxxxxx
See Also:	Octave, Rispetto, Sestet, Strambotto (Sicilian)

Pasted from <http://www.poetrybase.info/forms/003/300.shtml>

My thanks to Poetry Base.

VISUAL TEMPLATES. These show the rhyme patterns and syllable count.

                                      No specfic meter is mandated, I have shown both

                                      iambic and trochaic possibilities.

Leigh Hunt Rondeau

An 8 line poem with the  final line being only four syllables
Simply Trochaic Tetrameter, with catalectic feet providing the bold rhyme
Rhyme pattern:  ababcdcd

 Visual Template

Coraline

This is a form invented by Allpoetry's Streambed

It is a modified Italian Octave  with the following specifications.

The lines are octasyllabic, to be written preferable in iambic tetrameter,

but trochaic tetrameter may be used at the poet's discretion.

A poem consists of exactly two  stanzas, each being an octave.

The rhyme scheme is: abbaccab

Visual Template (for iambic tetrameter)

Huitain

The true Huitain is a single verse, eight line poem with eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme is:

ababbcbc

The French form began as the Spanish with eight lines of eight syllables, but it also allowed for the continuation of the poem in additional eight line stanzas. It was even accepted as a form of collaborative poetry with several poets each contributing their own eight line stanza.

The English, with their fondness for iambic pentameter, also accepted ten syllable lines, but to me this strays too far from the original intent of the form. Myself, I stuck to the original, Spanish rules. My example is eight lines of eight syllables each. :-)

Prisoner

She stands alone, wind in her hair,

upon the cliff, above the sea;

for hours she’s done naught but stare,

I wonder, is she even free?

Her prison is not one you see

it has no bars, nor doors that seal,

it’s made of all her mind’s debris

and all the things she used to feel.

huitain, French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line. The form was written on three rhymes, one of which appeared four times. Typical rhyme schemes wereababbcbc and abbaacac. The huitain was popular in France in the 15th and early 16th centuries with such poets as François Villon and Clément Marot.

French/English #1: ababbcbc

French/English #2: abbaacac

Spanish #1: ababacac

Spanish #2: abbaacca

Example Poem

Today's Press Too (Huitan - French/English # 2)

"First get your facts said young Mark Twain,

then …distort them as you (may) please,"

an editorial newsprint tease.

The politicians all do feign

to patiently their points explain,

but facts seem bothersome at best,

when asked details they will abstain.

They give just "views" then let you guess.

Lawrencealot - November 12, 2012

Visual Template

Ottava Anna

This is an OTTAVA ANNA Form
Invented by Carol Anne Gordon, aka Mystictarusritr on Allpoetry.com.

Derived from Ottava Rima form

Written in pentameter, frequently iambic.

internal and end-rhyme schemes.
Internal rhyme is on syllable 4 or 5 each line.
External rhyme is on syllable 10 each line.


There is to be a Volta line 4 or 5 or...
\\
Internal ~ abbaaccb
External ~ deeddffe

The rhyme scheme may be turned inside out if you like

Internal ~  deeddffe
External ~  abbaaccb


Example Poem

Pit  Stop

Assistance desired- the girl did perceive
a hunk with the quick good looks she did seek
pumping gas.  Her trick had worked once last week.
Promptly she inquired "What do you believe
has this time transpired that you can relieve?"
The hunk turned away, and started to grieve.
You see he was gay, and hoped to leave soon.
He saw the oil slick- third head pulled this week.

© Lawrencealot - June 2, 2012


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Ottava Rima

A Ottava Rima is a poem written in 8-line octaves.
Each line is of a 10 or 11 syllable count in
the following rhyme:
one octave poem. abababcc
two octave poem. abababcc, dededeff
three octave poem. abababcc, dededeff, ghghghii

...so on and so on



Example Poem

Hereafter What?

Amazing homeostasis defies
entropy, seemingly with thoughtful change.
Through positive and negative replies
to stimuli it locks into a range.
A cell no more thinks than a piglet flies.
Ours try for constant Ph to arrange.
Each does its stupendous job then it dies.
With no need to fret where its future lies.

All instructions are D.N.A.  coded,
as is their time to "die", then they're replaced-
or not.  A mountain grows then's eroded,
while vapor turns to water being chased
through mountains cracks; more rocks are exploded,
Sometimes this cycle seems to be a waste.
Yet, waste or not it will play to the end.
That sir, is how my life will work, my friend.

Man's invented God since men could converse,
for death was never obscure- purpose was!
For most all, life was hard and they feared worse.
Hence gods were wrought to whom to plead their cause.
I've actualized myself though time  is terse.
I've lived, live yet, and require no applause.
Life's tiller needs no Maker's mighty hand.
His role fulfilled with big bang, on demand.

Those faith imbued may feel for me as I
so feel for them, saddened they're not complete.
"They're in a better place" will comfort my
peers - not I.  "They" must mean souls, not discrete
tokens.  Those souls pre- and post- life rely
on no puppet master, on no hymn sheet.
If soul there be then soul there is right now,
and will be then continuing, somehow.


(c) Lawrencealot - May 28, 2012

Visual Template

Paulo Ludibrium Comitatu

Paulo Ludibrium Comitatu (Little Toy Train), created by Lawrencealot

      Patterned after the Paulo Comitatu

The form consists of one or more octaves where the 1st and 5th lines

are Iambic Trimeter with and extra unaccented syllable

da DUM  da DUM  da DUM da (Technically two iambs and an amphibrach)

The remaining lines are proper Iambic Trimeter

Rhyme Pattern: xaba xcbc

This form was designed by synergystic accident, while attempting to

to co-write a poem, and identify the beginning form.

 It is handy if poets are sharing alternating quatrains, and the second poet has strong rhyming skills.

It was placed here for all to enjoy.

Example Poem

Waiting for Her Backwoods Pilot

She sat there by the window

and watched the falling rain.

Her mind went to the past

she hummed a sweet refrain.

He traveled through the forest

with cautious stealth and dread.

Alone and failing fast,

he'd crashed and should be dead.

(c) Lawrencealot November  11, 2012

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