Terzanelle Poetry

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Terzanelle
The Terzanelle is a 19-line poem consisting of five interlocking triplets plus a concluding quatrain
in which the first and third lines of the first triplet appear as refrains. The middle line of each triplet
is a repetend reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center
line of the next-to-the-last stanza which appears in the quatrain. The rhyme and refrain scheme
for the triplets is as follows:

1. A
2. B
3. A
4. b
5. C
6. B
7. c
8. D
9. C
10. d
11. E
12. D
13. e
14. F
15. E
16. f
17. A or F
18. F or A
19. A

Each line of the poem should be the same metrical length.


Example:
A River Flows

A gentle river flows
In the valley below
A gentle river flows
Where blue carnations grow
On the shores of heartache
In the valley below
where loves dreams re-awake
with the passing seasons
on the shores of heartache
no one knows the reasons
loves heart will beat once more
with the passing seasons
on this lone distant shore
where sadness is lifted
loves heart will beat once more
when the spirits shifted
A gentle river flows
where sadness is lifted
A gentle river flows

Copyright © 2003 Crystal Rose