The Kyrielle

Welcome to the seventh Poetry Workshop. After the last workshop which looked at Japanese poetic forms and was pretty taxing, it was decided to return to a more European form and so something more flexible and versatile. So here it is, the Kyrielle.

The Kyrielle was once a very popular poetic form originating in France and dating back to the middle ages. The word Kyrielle is derived from a part of the church liturgy, the kyrie eleison. This is why we have the refrain, which is a characteristic of kyrie eleison. The words to many hymns are in this form, though it is by no means confined to religious poetry.

It is written in quatrains (four line stanzas) which include a refrain (repeat line, phrase or word) as the last line, and each line has eight syllables.

The rhyming scheme is completely up to the author, it could easily be aabB, ccbB or abaB, cbcB. It is not even required for the refrain to rhyme with the second line, so it could be axaR, bxbR.

Dark Depths

Dark surrounds me, can’t you see it? a

Screaming inside, can’t you hear me? x

In front of me looms a black pit, a

Why don’t you see, hear or help me? R

Day in, day out, I smile for you, b

I go through all the procedures. x

But, inside I’m crying anew, b

Why can’t you see, hear or help me? R

The fragile mask slips off at night c

when I’m tired, alone and scared. x

My sanity has gone from sight, c

Why don’t you see, hear or help me? R

Slowly going over the edge, d

Yet you look away, uncaring. x

Why shouldn’t I jump from the ledge? d

Blind, you can’t see, hear or help me. R

Shauna Devlin

As you can see from the example above, it is not necessary to use the whole line as a refrain. It could be the last part or word. The poem Dark Depths changes the refrain slightly, but leaves the words see, hear or help me.

The Kyrielle is extremely versatile, and you can have a lot of fun playing around with it. Consider using a refrain which has different meanings: begin the poem suggesting one way and end with the other.

A Lenten Hymn by Thomas Campion is another good example of the Kyrielle, in hymn form.

A Lenten Hymn

With broken heart and contrite sigh, a

A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry: a

Thy pard’ning grace is rich and free: b

O God, be merciful to me. B

I smite upon my troubled breast, c

With deep and conscious guilt oppress, c

Christ and His cross my only plea: b

O God, be merciful to me. B

Far off I stand with tearful eyes, d

Nor dare uplift them to the skies; d

But Thou dost all my anguish see: b

O God, be merciful to me. B

Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done, e

Can for a single sin atone; e

To Calvary alone I flee: b

O God, be merciful to me. B

And when, redeemed from sin and hell, f

With all the ransomed throng I dwell, f

My raptured song shall ever be, b

God has been merciful to me. B

Thomas Campion

So that’s it, the Kyrielle. Simple but sweet. And if you are stuck for inspiration, why don’t you dig out an old piece of work and adapt it into the Kyrielle?

Have fun!