A triolet is a one stanza poem of eight lines with an ab.aa.ab.ab rhyme scheme. The first, fourth and seventh lines are the same as are the second and eighth lines. They are great fun to compose. Here's one I wrote on one of my Cobble walks.
What the Hemlock Said
What the Hemlock Said
From where I stand I see the river bend
before it wanders off across the field.
A hundred years I’ve watched the water wend,
For where I stand I see the river bend,
And you would think a hundred years to spend
along the water’s edge by rights should yield
a closer knowledge of the river bend
before it wanders off across the field.
That is just lovely! I remember teachers trying to drum all that ab, aa,ab,ab stuff into my head. I resisted strenuously. Now I wish I'd made more of an effort.....
ReplyDeletean interesting form...you pull it off well...like watching the river bend....
ReplyDeleteA bend along a wend?
ReplyDeleteWonderful. I think I'll try that!
Ah, the image that is conjured up.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy this.
pauline - this is a new form to me and on monday, it'll be a new form to my class! this is a lovely rendering of a walk. i love the old words like wend, "wern" is another that loves to hold hands with the word wend. steven
ReplyDeleteMolly - it's never too late to start ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brian M
Brain H - you won't regret it ;)
Meggie - it's a beautiful spot by the river to sit and talk with the trees
Steven - I think Chaucer may have been the last person to use wern!
ah, the lesson of the tree: we only learn what's round the bend if we dare to wander. nicely done.
ReplyDeletethanks for stopping by my place after POTW. :)
It reads light
ReplyDeleteand not.
I like it.
It just struck me how difficult it would be to be a tree without the possibility of following up on anything that moves away. Imagine hundreds of years in one place!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful mental picture I have. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend, jj
I remember being taught about rhyme and rhythm in elementary school and I once loved to write these one stanza poems. But along the way somewhere, someone made fun of my poetry and you know where that can lead. Any poetry I write now comes out stilted and false.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine this tree and river so well!
It's not just your rhyming scheme; it's in iambic pentameter too. Congratulations. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe form is new for me too (and so is "wern" - how cool to have something so old be new). I like it, the way I like a villanelle, for how the lines that are echoed reinforce a beautiful aspect of the poem. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteLime - I guess even if you stand in one place for a hundred years, you learn things...
ReplyDeletedeb - I like that comment :)
BB - I wonder if trees find it difficult?
Thanks, JJ!
Marion - never see yourself solely through someone else's eyes!
Thanks Berowne - it was an interesting challenge
me, too Ruth!
Is it really fun to compose? All those rules frighten me.
ReplyDeleteA great poem, though. Wow.
Reya - the challenge of following the rules is the fun part!
ReplyDeleteP. Beautiful. I shall try it out now too.
ReplyDelete