Poetic Forms - Kyrielle

The kyrielle has its roots in the Middle Ages, when troubadours sang madrigals and wrote kyrielle poetry. Once popular in Christian hymns, these may often contain the refrain, "Lord, have mercy."

The kyrielle is written in couplets (two-line stanzas) or quatrains (four-line stanzas) rhyming in couplets, with a minimum of three quatrains or six couplets. There is no set maximum of stanzas.

Strictly speaking, each line consists of exactly eight syllables and the last line of each stanza is a refrain. A refrain is a line that is repeated one or more times in a poem. Variations include iambic pentameter (five feet of "dah-DUM"), or other classic meters ("Poetic Meter").

Common rhyming schemes include:

a - a - b - refrain(b) ... c - c - b - refrain(b) ... z - z - b - refrain(b)

or

a - b - a - refrain(b) ... c - b - c - refrain(b) ... z - b - z - refrain(b)

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. "Refrain(b)" is the repeating line that rhymes with other "b" lines.

Example:

This Quaint Facade

Though quietly I spend my time,
a dozen decades past my prime,
I feel the years of life's debris-
I'm not the person that you see.

This quaint facade will serve its use,
no pressure to perform, produce,
a sculpture of humanity-
I'm not the person that you see.

While missing friends of childhood,
I know I wasn't understood,
emotions churn and wrestle free-
I'm not the person that you see.