Fat-head poet

Today's form is the triolet, which is sort of like a baby form of the villanelle. It is only eight lines long, but three of those eight are repetitions of the first two. It is a relatively unknown and little used form. I'll give you a rather impolite example. Incidentally, it was written by Charles Darwin's granddaughter.

To a Fat Lady Seen From the Train

Frances Cornwell

O why do you walk though the fields in gloves,

Missing so much and so much?

O fat white woman whom nobody loves,

Why do you walk though the fields in gloves,

When the grass is soft as the breast of doves

And shivering sweet to the touch?

O why do you walk though the fields in gloves,

Missing so much and so much?

What makes this triolet even better is that someone wrote a retort to it. Although it is not a triolet, I had to post the reply that G.K. Chesterton wrote to Frances Cornwell, because it is hilarious (and gave my blog post its title).

The Fat White Woman Speaks

G. K. Chesterton

Why do you rush through the field in trains,

Guessing so much and so much?

Why do you flash though the flowery meads,

Fat-head poet that nobody reads;

And why do you you know such a frightful lot

About people in gloves as such?

And how the devil can you be sure,

Guessing so much and so much,

How do you know but what someone who loves

Always to see me in nice white gloves

At the end of the field you are rushing by,

Is waiting for his Old Dutch?

(Old Dutch means wife.) Now it is time for my triolet. I actually wrote this one rather quickly. I started it in photography class and finished it when I got home from drama rehearsal.

A Sarcastic Triolet

Since feeling is first and all impulse is true,
Of course you must follow your heart.
Even when reason tells you what to do,
Since feeling is first and all impulse is true,
You must must not commit any crime against art.

So ignore all advice from those wiser than you

Since feeling is first and all impulse is true,

Of course you must follow your heart.

Let me know what authors or poem forms you think I should try next. I was thinking (besides the ones I mention in my previous post) of doing a Rondeau poem or following the style of T. S. Eliot. Tell me what you think!