Writing Triolet

This is such a great place for beginners to start. You have very few lines to write, really - when it comes right down to it! Wiki says, "often all lines are in iambic tetrameter. and the first, fourth and seventh lines are identical, as are the second and final lines, thereby making the initial and final couplets identical as well."

The triolet is very brief, and tightly rhymed. It is like the pantoum, and takes part of its structure from the repetition.

iambic tetrameter

 x     /   x    /  x   /  x  /
Come live with me and be my love

A capital letter in the frame indicates a new rhyme, lower case indicates a rhyme pattern. Use an on-line rhyming dictionary to help you get started. There are several about!

A frame for the triolet looks like this:

A (first line)
B (second line)
a (rhymes with first line)
A (repeat first line)
a (rhymes with first line)
b (rhymes with second line)
A (repeat first line)
B (repeat second line)


Examples:

• “Triolet” by Robert Bridges (1876)
• “How Great My Grief” by Thomas Hardy (1901)
• “The Coquette, and After” by Thomas Hardy (1901)
• Four triolets by Sara Teasdale (1911)