Picture courtesy of Pixabay

Quatern (Source: shadowpoetry.com)

A Quatern is a sixteen line French form composed of four quatrains. It is similar to the Kyrielle and the Retourne. It has a refrain that is in a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fourth line of stanza four. A quatern has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme.

For another example of a Quatern: Source: Writer's Digest http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/poetic-forms/types-of-poetry-forms-quatern

The Oxford Dictionary definition of Poetry: Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.

The Oxford Dictionary definition of Verse: Writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme.

Notes of Interest:

Of the 42 types listed at Shadow Poetry under Traditional Poetry, 6 types are metered (ie; iambic pentameter), 32 are syllabic oriented styles, and 4 are optional (poet's choice)

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed or constrained number of syllables per line, while stress, quantity, or tone play a distinctly secondary role - or no role at all - in the verse structure. It is common in languages that are syllable-timed, such as Japanese or modern French or Finnish - as opposed to stress-timed languages such as English, in which accentual verse and accentual-syllabic verse are more common.

Thus syllabic technique does not - in English - convey a metrical rhythm; rather it is a compositional device: primarily of importance to the author, perhaps noticed by the alert reader, and imperceptible to the hearer.

A number of English-language poets in the Modernist tradition experimented with syllabic verse. These include Marianne Moore, Dylan Thomas, Louis Zukofsky, Kenneth Rexroth and Thom Gunn. Some more traditional poets have also used syllabics, including Elizabeth Daryush and Robert Bridges whose "Testament of Beauty" is the longest syllabic poem in English.

Dylan Thomas's "In my Craft or Sullen Art" is an example of syllabic verse in English: it has seven syllables in each line (except the last), but no consistent stress pattern. (Example is below)


In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night
When only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,
I labour by singing light
Not for ambition or bread
Or the strut and trade of charms
On the ivory stages
But for the common wages
Of their most secret heart.

Dylan Thomas

You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.