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Learning to Write Poetry While My Expert Cat Supervises

The fun and challenging poetic form of triolet

Lynne Collier
2 min readJan 30, 2024
A woman sitting at her laptop with her cat watching her work.
Image by author created in Canva. Line art by Victoria Rusyn on Canva used by permission.

The Origin of Triolet Poetry

“Triolet” comes from the French word meaning “clover leaf” and is thought to have originated in thirteenth-century France.

How to Write a Triolet Poem

A triolet has three rhymes within the poem and three repetitions. It has eight lines with ten syllables on each and follows the iambic pentameter rhythm. William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, and Elizabeth Barret Browning are writers of iambic pentameter.

The easiest way I found to write this style of poetry is to begin with the first two lines and work from there. Choose ending words with a lot of options to rhyme.

The style looks like this: ABaAabAB

1. The first line (A)

2. The second line (B)

3. The third line rhymes with the first (a)

4. Repeat the first line (A)

5. The fifth line rhymes with the first (a)

6. The sixth line rhymes with the second line (b)

7. Repeat the first line (A)

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Lynne Collier
Lynne Collier

Written by Lynne Collier

Writer of stories and poetry. Christ follower. Yorkshire lass living in Ontario. Author of 16 books. Loves gardening. https://lynnecollier.com/my-books/

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