Wichita eagle., 1888-10-13
FANCIES IN VERSE.
CURIOUS METHODS OF RHYMlNo
WHICH ARE THE FASHION,.

CURIOUS METHODS OF RHYMINo
WHICH ARE THE FASHION.
A List q Singular Little Songs Con.
structed After the Methods Of the
Troubadours-Ballade. Rondeau. Triolel
and virelai-For Winter Evenings
Some Of our readers Of literary turn may
be interested In the new forms Of verse,
which really are immensely old, but which,
are just now quito the fashion among poets
or poetasters. Many Of these forms, with
their curious repeated rhymes, and half mad
Interviewing Of rhymes. originated with the
troubadours and trouveres and Provencal
singers generally; but they have been
changed in process Of growth till their orig
inators would hardly know them. OF these
forms, adapted, at any rate, from the old
French, those enjoying most prominence to-
day are the ballade, the chant royal, the
kyrielle, the pantomine, the rondel, rondeau
and rondelet, the CLOSE, the sestina, the trio
let, the willamette, the lay and the virelai
The refrain or burden has great deal to
do with these singular little songs In other
poetry, says a critic, an ordinary refrain is
"kept to one note resounding through tho
whole poem, much as the drone bass in pif-
ferari or uusette music Is kept going through
out"
Mr.. Austin Dobson is said to have written
the first ballade which we have in English.
The ballade, according to rule, has three
eight line stanzas, and verso called the en-
voy, at the close, Of four lines; or it can
consist Of three stanzas Of ten lines and an
envoy Of five. The same set Of rhymes must
be used in every verse, but never the same
word again, except IN the refrain which
must close each stanza, and the envoy, the
envoy having the rhymes of the last half Of
tho last verse. The whole is governed des-
politically By the refrain, an eight syllabled
refrain requiring an eight line stanza, a ten
syIabled tea line stanza, and the sense Of
the stanZa must not pause in the middle,
but must continue to be capped by the re-
frain. The envoy always remembers the old
fashion of addressing the verse to n person
person Of distinction, as the prince or lord
or chatelaine-and should ba the climax of
the whole.
Another quaint verse form is the kyriele,
a four lined verse of eight syllabled Lines,
having each last limo the same. another is
the pantoum, which, SO far from being Of
old French, is Of Asiatic or Malay descent;
IL consists of four lined stanzas, the second
and fourth lines of each making the first and
third of the next, and so on indefinitely,
closing by making the second and fourth
lines Of the last stanza from the erst and
third Of the first one The rondel, the old
Co. - tl,o
from Provence, and greatly resembles tho
triolet The rondeau is written on two
rhymes; it has thirteen lines and two IN
rhymed refrain lines, the refrain usually be-
ing repetition of the 6rst half of the first
line, but being Of especial Importance, the
climax Of the whole arrangement, and of
spontaneous and not Abored effect, being in
troduced as If the lines flowed into it Of their
own accord The ROUNDED, another slight
variation, is thought to lie the invention Of
Mr. Swinburne.
The rondelet is just little matter of seven
lines, used to express any brief fancy, open
ing with line Of four syilables, which is re-
peated after one eight syilabled line, and
again after three others, the first Of which
three lines rhymes with the repeat, the others
with the second line. The CLOSE, another
freak, is used moro IN Spanish and Portu-
guese than In French 1t begins with
quatratn called texte, which it amplifies
in four stanzas OF ten tines, each closing with
one of the lines of the opening quatrain, in
every verso the sixth, ninth and tenth lines
with each other, other lines taking
any rhymea The sestina was invested by
the troubadour Arnaut Daniel, and was used
by Dante aud Petrarch; 1t Is of six ssanzas
Of six lines each: the six words that end the
six lines do not rhyme, but the same six
words end every line throughout the poem,
closing with three line stauza which uses
the six words, three at the end and three in
the middle.
The triolet is the play Of words and tune
which has been most popular, because most
easy, probably. II consists Of eight lines,
and keeps 70 two rhymes; the first pair OF
rhymes arc again the seventh and eighth,
and the first il also tho fourth; the third,
fourth and fifth rhyme With tbs first, the
sixth with the second Ths trioles has to
tell its story In Eve hnea. ADD carry tho re
peat 80 easily a. to he charming and nla
strained; the first one printed In modern
English was by Mr.. Robert Bridges. Tho
Of which species Mr.. Edmund
Gosse wrote the first IN English, has been
called "the most Favishine jewel worn By
the muse Exto:' II was originally 9 sbep-
herds song; it is complete N nineteen lines,
eve thros lined staneas and IN ending one
Of four hnss; eight lines given UP 10 toe re-
train, which consists Of the first AID third
tnes used alternately, and ct tbs eioae both
tosethor There remain tie lag and the
virelat Tbs lay u q couplsss Of eve sylia-
bied lines ell tbe aauDs rsauItng rhyme, In
By 6nsle nno Of two synnties
rhyudng: tins only Two rhymes arc ued,
ZACH new stAnR t1k1nS nev rhymes But
In ehs virelai there Il sequence Of TIE sarns
rhymes throughout al The s.Ar.aAe. the sec
ond verss taking tho short line RI yuss for
Its own long tnss, and . nov rhyme for the |
hort ouA
We havs been tins rtrsfe b describing |
these forms Of word Play o. Account Of tse
general Interest II she1n 1be4r coDpnitioo |
doubtless wiu AFFORD z1cA sn7uanz enter |
70 social cathAtaQ Of winter evsur |
nSs @ Of sznn- norntngSon hoesi p<Ax1s; /
Eus IL eoe nos seeE 70 . f1aAs vefuEs thus /
lzft6ciaiiy made " baa1 mSch relation to /
she poetry Of Aiitoa anA ShaksspaArs. q |
Byron and TsnuysA-HazpsxS eazaz.
Gnnug opou10an q 1a1H1y.