Discovered a new poetic form today – well, it’s new to me. Called Kyrielle.

The kyrielle is a French form utilizing four-line stanzas. The unique aspect of the kyrielle is that the final line in each stanza is a refrain, repeating itself in each stanza. Also, and I like this, it can be as long as you want. Like a ghazal, the kyrielle can have as many stanzas as the poet decides it should have, but they usually have at least two.

Think the kyrielle gets by without a rhyme scheme? Think again. There is one. It isn’t fixed, however. There are actually four different schemes that it could have, including:

aabb
abab
aaab
abcb

I learned about the kyrielle from Nancy Breen and Robert Lee Brewer at Poetic Asides.

Learn more about poetic terms, forms and the types of poetry at World Class Poetry, a growing resource for poets who aspire to improve their craft and get published.