Tetrasyllabic Couplets Options

[Tinker]

Tetrasyllabic Couplets are rhyming couplets originating in Catalonia Spain. The 4 syllable meter broke tradition in the standard of 8 syllable lines in the 15th century in Libre de les Dones by Jaum Roig (1478).

Catalan is a romance language still spoken in the Catalonia region of Spain. When Spain became a fascist dictatorship under Franco, an effort was made to stamp out the language but the language just went underground. After the fall of the Franco’s regime the language reemerged. It is a kind of cross between French and Spanish.

The Tetrasyllabic Couplet is:

a. syllabic, 4 syllable lines
b. written in couplets, number at the discretion of the poet.
c. rhymed aa bb cc

One Too Many

A glass of wine
relax and dine,
one more, a touch,
fill up, too much.

Repeated thrice
a shot with ice,
not booze, just beers,
bottles with cheers.

Hair of the dog,
mind in a fog,
one for the road
to kiss a toad.

Spiral and fall
and hit the wall,
a trembling hand
no legs to stand.

Company car
drive home from bar,
plow into fence
boss getting tense.

Finally fired
husband retired,
alone with drink
life on the brink.

--- Judi Van Gorder