PATTERNS ‘ N POETRY

Patterns ‘N Poetry, Standard Edition, includes the Rondeau poetry format and the patterns for the closely related patterns for the Roundel and Rondine. The Rondeau, sometimes spelled Rondo is often confused with other forms with similar spelling: Rondel, Rondelet, , Roundelay, Rondeau Redoublé, Roundel and Rondine. But only the Rondine and the Roundel poetry formats are like Rondeau.

Rondeau

The Rondeau is a French verse form of the Middle Ages. Thomas Wyatt, the English poet, wrote several poems in the Rondeau form. The Rondeau has a distinctive stanza, syllable and refrain pattern. There are three stanzas. The first stanza is five(5) lines long, a quintet. The second stanza is four(4) lines long, a quatrain. The final stanza is six(6) lines long, a sexain. The syllable pattern is fixed length, usually eight, but the last line of the second stanza and the last line of the third stanza is half as long, four(4) syllables. Then half length lines are the refrains from the first half of the first line of the poem. If you select to use other syllable counts like 6, 10 or 12 then the half lines must be 3, 5 or 6. There is a line break at end of each stanza. The refrain does not rhyme with any of the other lines.

Example: If the first line of a poem is “In the spring, robins sing their song”: Then the last line of the stanzas two and four would be ” In the spring”   W.E.Henley’s What Is To Come is another well known Rondeau.

What is to come we know not. But we know

That what has been was good–was good to show,

Better to hide, and best of all to bear.

We are the masters of the days that were;

We have lived, we have loved, we have suffered…even so.

Shall we not take the ebb who had the flow?

Life was our friend? Now, if it be our foe–

Dear, though it spoil and break us! –need we care

What is to come?

Let the great winds their worst and wildest blow,

Or the gold weather round us mellow slow;

We have fulfilled ourselves, and we can dare

And we can conquer, though we may not share

In the rich quiet of the afterglow

What is to come.

The most famous Rondeau is In Flanders Field by John McCrae.

Roundel

The Roundel is like the Rondeau. Algernon Charles Swinburne, the English poet created the form Roundel and it should not be confused with the Rondel. He took the thirteen line Rondeau and reduced it to eleven lines. It is like the Rondeau in the use of three stanzas but the first and last stanza are quatrains and the middle stanza is a tercet, three(3) lines.

Like the Rondeau, the refrain is taken from the first half of the first line. The refrain lines syllable count is half as long as the other lines like the Rondeau. The poem uses an eight syllable count like the Rondeau and a four(4) syllable count for the refrain line.If you select to use other syllable counts like 6, 10 or 12 then the refrain half lines must be 3, 5 or 6. There is a line break at end of each stanza.

The refrain is the last line of the first and last stanza. The big additional twist in the pattern from the Rondeau, the refrain rhymes with the second line of the poem. This creates a cross rhyme between the first and second line of the poem. A cross rhyme is a word in the middle of one line rhymes with the end rhyme of another line.

Example:
In the spring, robins sing their songs
Through the woodlands a chorus sings,
And across the lake glide the swans

The last line of the first and third stanza would be “In the Spring” The cross rhyme is spring in 1st line, with sing in the second line In the spring.

A BABY’S DEATH

by Algernon Charles Swinburne

The little eyes that never knew
Light other than of dawning skies,
What new life now lights up anew
The little eyes ?

Who knows but on their sleep may rise
Such light as never heaven let through
To lighten earth from Paradise ?

No storm, we know, may change the blue
Soft heaven that haply death descries
No tears, like these in ours, bedew
The little eyes.

Many examples of the Roundel can be read at Century of Roundels

Rondine

The Rondine is so similar to the Rondeau that is often mistaken for a Rondeau. The difference is the first stanza length.

In a Rondeau the first stanza is five(5) lines, a quintet, while in the Rodine the first stanza is four(4) lines,a quatrain, the second stanza three(3) lines, a tercet like the Roundel and the third stanza is five lines, a quintet. and giving it a total of tweleve lines It also has a different rhyme pattern from the Rondeau,

The poem uses an eight(8) syllable count for the poem lines while a four(4) syllable count for the refrain line.If you select to use other syllable counts like 6, 10 or 12 then the refrain half lines must be 3, 5 or 6. There is a line break at end of each stanza. Sometimes a poet will eliminate the line break between the first stanza and second stanza. This makes the Rondine a poem of two stanzas, a seven(7) line stanza, a septet followed by the second five(5) line stanza, quintet. The rhyme and refrain scheme remains the same. Both patterns are acceptable but the two stanza version is most popular. With Patterns ‘N Poetry software we provide both the standard three stanza version (Rondine3)  and  the two stanza version(Rondine2) because of its popularity.

Like the Rondeau the refrain lines does not rhyme with any of the other lines. The refrain in the Rodine is the last line of the second and last stanza or first and second stanza in the two stanza formExample of Rodine (two stanza versions) can be found at Tir na nOg - Land of the Everliving

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Patterns ‘N Poetry, software program for poets, includes the poem form Tera Rima. Dante Alighieri using the Terza Rima form wrote the Divine Comedy. The form had been known before him. The pattern, an interlocking rhyme pattern (aba,bcb,cdc,ded, ee) lends itself to easy memorization and used by troubadours throughout France and Italy in the 11th, 12, and 13th century. Dante made it popular.

Terza Rima , while use by French troubadours,is an Italian open chain rhyme poem format consisting of tercets, three line stanza.. The use of interlocking rhyme from stanza to stanza creates a forward motion to the poem. There is no limit to the number of tercets, but a group of tercets end with a couplet repeating the middle rhyme of the last tercet. Sometimes the poem is sometimes printed no line breaks between the tercets making it difficult to recognize. Dante, in his Divine Comedy did use line breaks. With no line breaks the pattern is often obscure to the reader so in Patterns ‘N Poetry line breaks are included in the format. In English, Iambic Pentameter is the preferred choice, but other line lengths can be used as long as all lines are of equal length.

Patterns ‘N Poetry includes a Terza Rima of four(4) tercets plus a final couplet. This make it fourteen line in length and is sometimes called the Terza Rima Sonnet. We use line breaks in the pattern to make writing the Terza Rima easier.

It was introduced into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century. The first English usage was by Chaucer in Complaint to His Lady. The Terza Rima form has been used by Milton, Byron and Shelley.

Chaucer: Complaint to His Lady
Shelley:Ode to the West Wind

In the 20th century poets using this form has included MacLeish, Auden, T.S. Elliot, Robert Frost and Derek Walcott.

Frost:Acquainted With the Night

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Patterns ‘N Poetry software includes the Poetry form Villanelle and it’s Spanish forerunner the Villancico.

Villanelle

The Villanelle is a form of poetry introduced in the 16th Century in France. It is related to the Spanish poetry form Villancico. The English version was introduced in the 19th Century, and in fact most Villanelles are written in English. It is a form many poets love writing with an equal number or more afraid. The limitation of two rhymes make it a challenge as the use of refrain.

The Villanelle poetry form is nineteen(19) lines composed of five (5) tercets and a quatrain. The first and third line of the first stanza are refrains through the poems. Most important the refrains are the final two lines of the ending quatrain. The first thing you need for a villanelle is a pair of rhyming lines that are the heart of your message or theme. Your poem will be more or less effective based on the crucial refrain lines. There are only two rhymes and the two refrains rhyme. There is no reason why a writer could not add additional tercets before the final quatrain, though he would be probably challenged on whether he had actual written a Villanelle. The nineteen(19) line has been the accepted form.

The Villanelle has no established meter, although most nineteenth-century Villanelles have used trimeter (6 syllables) or tetrameter(8 syllables), while most twentieth-century Villanelles have used pentameter(10 syllables). There is no fixed meter type except that the entire poem must use one type throughout the poem. Iambic Pentameter is the most used.

Examples of Villanelles are:

• Villanelle of Lady’s Treasures by Ernest Dowson.
• Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas.
• If I could tell you, by W H Auden.
• Reading Scheme, by Wendy Cope.

By using enjambment whenever possible, writing the lines so they flow into each other, instead of ending each line with a comma or period, will keep the repetition of lines and end rhymes from sounding too stiff. The two refrain lines should contain a single related idea. Once you have those lines you have finished 40% of the poem.

Villancico

The Villancico is Spanish in origin and is also called Vilancete, in Portuguese. It was used as song form during church service and many were written to honor saints. Outside of honoring saints, the theme of the Villancico was usually about the countryside and the shepherds and the perfect woman. The Spanish conquest had the cultural impact that Mayan Villancico have been found

This poem has a common rhyme scheme, abb cddc cbb

The Villancico form is very demanding. It consist of two six line stanza(sexain) followed by an eight line stanza(octave). The Villancico not only repeats refrain lines but repeats couplets. The last two lines of the first stanza and the last two lines of the second stanzas are the last four lines of the octave.

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Patterns ‘N Poetry, the poetry writing software, the Standard Edition, includes three different poetry patterns based on the poetry form called Rubaiyat. All are limited to four quatrain stanzas.

The Rubaiyat structure originates in the 11th-12th Century in Persia. The initial form was a single stanza it was called Rubai, a four line poem where the first, second and fourth line rhymed. When the poet wrote poems of more than one stanza is was called the Rubaiyat. The most famous is The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a poem about living the good life with lots of merry making, drinking and sex. Under Persian Islamic law it was considered heretical and therefore dangerous to write and to be read.Omar Khayyam (1048-1142) was famous as an astronomer/astrologer, mathematician and philosopher. He as the author of the Rubaiyat became common knowledge after his death, when they could do him no harm.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was translated into English by Edward FitzGerald in 1859. Algernon Charles Swinburne, one of the first admirers of FitzGerald’s translation of Khayyam’s medieval Persian verses, was the first to imitate the stanza form, which subsequently became popular and was used widely, as in the case of Robert Frost’s 1922 poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

Each stanza is a quatrain where the the first, third and fourth line rhymes.

Rubaiyat is an open verse poetry form. A Rubaiyat may be two stanzas or more. The most common is three(3) to eight(8) stanzas. The pattern in Patterns ‘N Poetry is four stanza’s long. In the final stanza all four lines rhyme. There is some argument about this requirement. Many poets will just follow the pattern. The advantage and argument in favor of having the last stanza’s line all rhyme is it brings closure to the poem.

This pattern attempts to duplicate the orginal persion version. It is acceptable in English to use our classic 10 syllables, Iambic Pentameter. Robert Frost used the 8 syllable count iambic tetrameter but stayed in Snowy Woods. We have elected to create our master patterns using the form used by Robert Frost in his Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, iambic tetrameter. We also will follow Frost in the final stanza where all four lines rhyme. There is no reason you cannot use iambic pentameter(10 syllables) or even hexameter (12 syllables) The only real rule is that the syllable count and the meter type should be consistent throughout the poem.

There are three variations of the Rubaiyat, Traditional, Interlocking and Refrain.
In the Traditional version only the lines 1, 2, 4 rhyme creating the following pattern: aa-a, bb-b,cc-c,dddd. An example of the Traditional form is The Rubaiyat of La Nonette

In the Interlocking version the 3rd line rhymes with lines 1, 2, 4 of the next stanza creating the following pattern:aaba, bbcb, ccdc, ddd. An example is Robert Frost’s poem Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

The Refrain version is the same as the interlocking version with the addition of refrain. Here the third line of the quatrain become the first line of the next stanza. Example: Rubaiyat of A Dove By Dove

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Patterns N Poetry ,the poetry writing software ,Standard Edition, includes four English Sonnet poetry patterns. The four English patterns are Shakespearean Sonnet, Spenserian Sonnet, Wordsworth Sonnet and Clare Sonnet. The sonnet began in Italy and was introduced to England by the English poet Thomas Wyatt.

The Italian sonnet is fourteen lines divided into two rhyming sections. The octave, the first eight lines uses two rhymes, while the sestet, the final six lines, uses two or three rhymes. See Italian/Sicilian Sonnets for details. The English Sonnets form was developed from Italian sonnet forms. The English Sonnet gained its unique pattern starting with the sonnet form called the Shakespearean Sonnet. The English Sonnet has three quatrains (stanzas of four lines) followed by a couplet (a two line rhyming stanza). Each line must be written in iambic pentameter. It has of ten syllables using the unstressed/stressed rhythm pattern. (* / * /* /* /* /)

Beyond the stanza structure and the iambic pentameter, a sonnet presents a conflict and resolves it in the final couplet. The first quatrain presents the problem, idea or metaphor. The next two quatrains presents a different or expanded view of the problem, idea or metaphor. The couplet at the end is the poet’s final thoughts on the subject. The first word of each line is capitalized. The conclusion can be humorous, sad, oppositional, even a surprise twist!

The most famous sonnet writers in England were William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, John Milton, John Keats, John Clare and William Wordsworth. Best known Americans sonnet writers include D. G. Rossetti. Longfellow, Jones Very, G. H. Boker, Robert Frost, E.E. Cummings and E. A. Robinson

Each type of English sonnet has a turning point, the volta. This varies from type to type. There are five types of English Sonnets: Shakespearean Sonnet, Spenserian Sonnet, John Clare, Sonnet, and William Wordsworth.

Shakespeare Sonnet

Shakespearean sonnet was developed first by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547) using the following poetry pattern abab,cdcd,efef,gg. There are seven rhymes used. What distinguishes the Shakespearean Sonnet is the pivot point of the poem, the Volta, is in the final couplet. Examples of Shakespeare Sonnets

Spenserian Sonnet

The Spenserian sonnet pattern was invented by Edmund Spenser, which he used in The Faeire Queene. It is written with the pattern ababbcbc, cdcdee using five rhymes. One idea presented in first two quatrains, a second at the third quatrain. There is a stanza break between line 8 and 9 He often started line 9, the beginning of the third quatrain, of his sonnets with “But” or “Yet,” seeming to indicating a Volta, where it would be in an Italian sonnet. But the “turn” is not here at all, the actual turn occurs at the start of the couplet like the Shakespearean Sonnet.

An example of Spenserian Sonnet

Wordsworth Sonnet

The Wordsworth Sonnet, the Milton Sonnet and the Keats Sonnet are all similar. Wordsworth wanted his poetry to be read and understood by the common man. Wordsworth goal was to inspire people into a higher moral attitude and a greater love of country. Wordsworth using the sonnet poetry pattern restored it to popularity. They used poetry patterns which abandoned the ending rhyming couplet. The pattern abbaacca,dedede with a stanza break between the octave and the sestet and like the Italian form the Volta starts with line 9.

Wordsworth most famous sonnet is The World Is Too Much With Us

Clare Sonnet

John Clare (1793-1864) was an English poet, forgotten after his death, but rediscovered in the first part of the twentieth century. The Clare sonnet has seven rhyming couplets aabbccddeeffgg with no The Volta is at the final couplet, like English sonnets. The first twelve line( six couplets develop one idea or problem. Much of John Clare poetry dealt with nature. Example of a Clare Sonnet

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