Poetic Form: the Musette

Musette - Besides a type of musical instrument, a French bagpipe, a leather carrying pouch or a form of French dance, "musette" can also refer to a nine-line poem consisting of a total of twenty-four syllables.

Constructed with three stanzas of three lines each, the very short lines give a poet an avenue to be poignant, much like a haiku or tanka. Its rhyming pattern can add a subtle musical quality, thus the name.

The syllabic pattern is strict: the first and third lines of each stanza are two syllables each and rhyme only with each other, and the second lines are four syllables each and do not rhyme at all. So, the rhyming pattern is: a - b - a ... c - d - c ... e - f - e.

In a rhyming pattern, lines ending in a sound designated by "a" only rhyme with other "a" lines, "b" lines only with other "b" lines, and so on.

With such short lines, there is no meter. The title is at the poet's discretion.

Example:

Bemoaning Autumn

Leaves fly
on frigid wings,
limbs sigh

as wind
traipses through them,
chagrined,

for though
winter's not here,
they know.