Triolet

• Triolet: 
• Etymology--French: triolet: triplet (as the first line is repeated thrice)
• Definition: An eight-line stanza having just two rhymes and repeating the first line as the fourth and seventh lines, and the second line as the eighth  (The Poetry Foundation).

Journal: Triolet:




G. K. Chesterton

Triolet

I wish I were a jelly fish
That cannot fall downstairs:
Of all the things I wish to wish,
I wish I were a jelly fish
That hasn't any cares,
And doesn't even have to wish
"I wish I were a jelly fish
That cannot fall downstairs."

• What is Chesterton's attitude toward you (the reader) in this poem (tone)?  
• Is this tone consistent with the essay you have read by Chesterton ("A Piece of Chalk").  Explain. 

Austin Dobson

A Kiss

 
Rose kissed me to-day.
Will she kiss me to-morrow?
Let it be as it may,
Rose kissed me to-day,
But the pleasure gives way
To a savour of sorrow;—
Rose kissed me to-day,—
Will she kiss me to-morrow? 

• How does the refrain build or modify or enrich or reverse meaning in this poem?

Robert Bridges
  
When first we met, we did not guess

When first we met, we did not guess
    That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess.
Who could foretell the sore distress,
    This irretrievable disaster,
When first we met?—We did not guess
    That Love would prove so hard a master.

• Who are "we" in the poem?

• What direction does meaning take as the refrain repeats in this piece?  Explain. 

Dana Gioia: 

The Country Wife

She makes her way through the dark trees
Down to the lake to be alone.
Following their voices on the breeze,
She makes her way. Through the dark trees
The distant stars are all she sees.
They cannot light the way she's gone.
She makes her way through the dark trees
Down to the lake to be alone.

The night reflected on the lake,
The fire of stars changed into water.
She cannot see the winds that break
The night reflected on the lake
But knows they motion for her sake.
These are the choices they have brought her:
The night reflected on the lake,
The fire of stars changed into water.   

• This poem appears ambiguous to interpret (Why is she here; what is she doing; what is going on?); however, what feelings from the mood can you identify after having read this a few times?  
• Reread the opening two lines of each stanza a few times; what more do you think you know now?  What kind of background might this country wife have?  

Don Marquis

A Triolet

Your triolet should glimmer
  Like a butterfly;
In golden light, or dimmer,
Your triolet should glimmer,
Tremble, turn, and shimmer,
  Flash, and flutter by;
Your triolet should glimmer
  Like a butterfly.

• Do you agree with the speaker in this poem? Why or why not?  

• If the speaker in this poem is correct about this form, which of the poems above is a quintessential triolet? 

Explain.  

* Last journal question: Compose one triolet or villanelle of your own.  You will read these in class.