The triolet is a short poem of eight lines with only two rhymes used throughout. The requirements of this fixed form are straightforward: the first line is repeated in the fourth and seventh lines; the second line is repeated in the final line; and only the first two end-words are used to complete the tight rhyme scheme. Thus, the poet writes only five original lines, giving the triolet a deceptively simple appearance: ABaAabAB, where capital letters indicate repeated lines.
French in origin, and likely dating to the thirteenth century, the triolet is a close cousin of the rondeau, another French verse form emphasizing repetition and rhyme.
WALT’S ATTEMPT:
SINATRA SINGS
In a melancholy mood, Sinatra soothes.
His dulcet tones come smooth and hypnotic.
One of life’s salient truths,
in a melancholy mood, Sinatra soothes.
Sitting in my listening booth,
Frank’s “magic” is quixotic.
In a melancholy mood, Sinatra soothes.
His dulcet tones come smooth and hypnotic.
© Copyright Walter J. Wojtanik
POETIC BLOOMINGS 