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Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry French Verse Some of the earliest French poetry came from the Provencal Troubadours who developed distinct styles and forms of verse which set French versification on the path of a strict and narrow course for over 400 years. Although the sonnet was very probably inspired by the verse of the Troubadours, French poetry sometimes get a bad rap as difficult and lacking spontaneity because of its attention to structural detail. Yet the Lai, the Rondeau, and the Ballade family of forms have found their way through the centuries and are still used today. The Albatross by Charles Baudelaire French Poet (1821-1867) Often, to amuse themselves, the crew of the ship Would fell an albatross, the largest of sea birds, Indolent companions of their trip As they slide across the deep sea's bitters. Scarcely had they dropped to the plank Than these blue kings, maladroit and ashamed Let their great white wings sink Like an oar dragging under the water's plane. The winged visitor, so awkward and weak! So recently beautiful, now comic and ugly! One sailor grinds a pipe into his beak, Another, limping, mimics the infirm bird that once could fly. The poet is like the prince of the clouds Who haunts the storm and laughs at lightning. He's exiled to the ground and its hooting crowds; His giant wings prevent him from walking. Alternating Sonnet Alexandrine line Alba or Aubade Ballade Ballade Grande Ballade Royal Ballade Supreme Stanza Balada Ballata Bergerette Blason Bref Double Breton Lay Canso Chain Verse Chanso or Chanson Chante Fable Chant Royal Stanza Chanson de Geste Cinquain Courtly Compliment Dansa Débat Descort Desdansa Double Ballade Double Ballade Supreme Double Ballade with Eight Line Stanza Double Chant Royal Double Refrain Kyrielle Double Rondeau Dizain Eclogue Débat Ensenhamen Enuig Fabliau Fatras Free Verse Freie Verse French Heroic Line French Sonnet Geste Grand Ballade Hutain Iambe Kyrielle Kyrielle Sonnet Laisse Lai Lai Nouveau Noel Pantoum Pastorela Prose Poem Quatern Retourne Revielle Reverdie Rime Couée Rhyme Royal Rondeau Rondeau Prime Rondeau Redoubled Rondel Rondel Prime Rondel Supreme Rondelet Rondine Ronsardian Ode Sestina Salut d' Amour Sirvante Short Rondel Trine Triolet Trouveres School Viadeyra Vignette Villanelle Viralai Virelai Ancien