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I am eight hundred years too late To write afresh of courtly love. Besides, I'm gay, so what's the point? There is no maid for me to save. To write afresh of courtly love Would nowadays be just a joke. Why fawn upon a turtle dove? I've got my chicken I can choke. Besides, I'm gay, so what's the point? I might just end up in her dress. But with a pen I could disjoint A rhyme in which I claim duress. "There is no maid for me to save!" Will be my most lamenting cry. I'll take my secret to the grave: The poem shall be just a lie. February 2013 The rhyme in stanzas 2, 3, and 4 are not authentic to retourne. I just wanted to experiment after getting the first stanza written. Oh, I make no claim to sainthood despite the clerical garb. I am what I am.

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry French Verse The Retourne, (Latin - retorn=return), like much French verse from the Middle Ages is written with a refrain. However unlike verse of that same period, it is unrhymed which makes it suitable for short narratives. The elements of the Retourne are: a poem in 16 lines, made up of 4 quatrains. syllabic, 8 syllable lines. written with a tumbling refrain. The lines of the first stanza provide an opening refrain for the ensuing stanzas. xABC Axxx Bxxx Cxxx. unrhymed. French Flare by Judi Van Gorder In Middle Ages fraught with forms the French were known to write with flare. But search in books and search on-line, an old Retourne is hard to find. The French were known to write with flare, lines repeated and expanded, a poem measured four by four, octo-syllabic lines unrhymed. But search in books and search on-line no one it seems did take the time to record sixteen lines in frame to display a tumbling refrain. An old Retourne is hard to find, The form explained is everywhere sans example from the masters so humbly I offer my own.