A
terzanelle is a variation on the
villanelle form, utilzing the interlocked rhyme pattern of a
terza rima but in the
villanelle’s format of five triplets (3-line stanzas) and a quatrain (4-line stanza).
Simply stated, it is a 19-line poem of five triplets and a concluding quatrain, incorporating aspects both of a
terza rima and a
villanelle. The
middle line of each triplet is repeated verbatim as the third line of the following stanza, but the first and third line of the initial stanza also become the second and fourth lines of the closing quatrain. Thus seven of the 19 lines are actually repeated in this form.
The rhyme scheme of the six stanzas is a follows, with the Capital letters indicating the lines that are completely duplicated:
A
1BA
2bCB
cDC
dED
eFE
fA
1FA
2An
alternate ending for the final stanza is:
fFA
1A
2Here's a recently posted example (with link to the forum) of our resident forms expert,
Eric (
Merlin):
Moonshine in St Paul It was his gift beneath the Christmas wreathwhen he was still a lad in Delaware,this treasured blade with blue-bead leather sheath.You’d swear it purrs when danger’s in the air
protecting him from hazards large and smallwhen he was still a lad in Delaware.He wandered west, drank moonshine near St Paul,
ran with some active traders for a while protecting him from hazards large and small.A tepid waterhole, a bath in style,
a splintered mirror trim; what jauntiness ran with some active traders for a while.The Rockies, ever closer, happiness!
He had great visions – life would be a dream, a splintered mirror trim, what jauntiness.With knife in hand, he rested by a stream;
it was his gift beneath the Christmas wreath.He had great visions – life would be a dream,this treasured blade with beaded leather sheath.