Pattern Poetry


A sonnet consists of fourteen lines. Each line contains ten syllables. The fourteen lines are composed of three rhyming quatrains and a couplet.

A quatrain is four rhyming lines such as in Robert Frost's poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening":

Whose woods these are I think I know.   a
His house is in the village, though;         a
He will not see me stopping here           b
To watch his woods fill up with snow     a

A couplet is two rhyming lines.

I do not like green eggs and ham.   a
I do not like them, Sam I am.          a
      Example of a Sonnet by Denise Rodgers

The sonnet form is old and full of dust                 a
And yet I want to learn to write one well.             b
To learn new forms and grow is quite a must,       a
But I will learn it quickly, I can tell.                       b
And so I sit, today, with pen in hand,                     c
Composing three new quatrains with a rhyme.     d
The rhythm flows like wind at my command.        c
The A-B-A-B form consumes my time.                   d
But I'm not done until there's fourteen lines.        e
One ending couplet, after three quatrains.            f
I've tried to write this new form several times.     e
The effort's huge; I have to rack my brain.            f
But I persist, my fourteen lines now done.           g
I wrote my poem; my sonnet work is won.           g

1 Quatrain (abab)



2 Quatrain  (cdcd)


 
3 Quatrain   (efef)



1 Couplet  (gg)


Rondeau

This medieval poetic form from thirteenth-century France has affected Canadians. Named after the French word for "round", the rondeau is characterized by the repeating lines (In Flanders Fields), and two rhyme sounds throughout the poem (blow and sky).

A rondeau is composed of fifteen lines, eight to ten syllables each, divided into a quintet (five lines), a quatrain (four lines), and a sestet (six lines).

One factor in deciding to compose a rondeau is the selection of a strong mood-inducing refrain that works as an opening, a mid-poem repetition, and a closing.  You can see this in "In Flanders Fields" below.


In Flanders Fields
 John McCrae (1872-1918)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark the place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take upon your quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.