Virelay By John Gugie, eHow Editor Rate: (0 Ratings)

The virelay is an ancient French form of poetry. The name comes from the French word "virer," meaning "to turn." This poem is written in quatrains (four-line stanzas) with a rhyme scheme but without a fixed meter. A few unique aspects of this form includes no maximum length, a revolving rhyme scheme (a/b/a/b, b/c/b/c, c/d/c/d), the lines alternate between long and short, and the short lines of the last quatrain rhyme with those of the first quatrains (z/b/z/b).The virelay needs at least two stanzas, but it can be any length beyond that. This "how to" shows a three-stanza poem. Each stanza has its own section to avoid confusion. The virelay has no specific line length, but a meter of 8/4/8/4 is used in this example.

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