The Triplet

Let’s look at what we have seen so far. The couplet means a couple (2) lines together. The quatrain means four lines. Now we are going to look at the triplet, which means three (3). Three lines, that is.

Here’s a triplet from my poem “A Little Peace and Quiet, Please!”

Down the street hammers pound (A)
A truck backs up (B)
It makes that beeping sound (A)

The rhyme pattern here is ABA, but that’s not the only pattern you can use. How about AAA? Or AAB? Or ABB? Or no rhyme at all! Just three lines. You could do any of these.

I’ll try using these right off the top of my (bald) head, making the lines up as I go along:

Visiting the animals at the zoo (A)
A water buffalo blasts a “Moo!” (A)
Hey, that ox is blue! (A)

Belongs to a Bunyan named Paul (A)
That tall tale guy I saw (A)
In a book about Babe the Blue Ox (B)

No, not Red Riding Hood (A)
The four-legged big guy (B)
His ears lost up in the sky (B)

Well, that’s a pretty crazy one! Not a very good poem, I’m afraid, but it does show the patterns. It’s also a lot of fun to mix the triplets with quatrains and couplets, as in “A Little Peace and Quiet, Please!”

Down the street hammers pound (A)
A truck backs up (B) (TRIPLET)
It makes that beeping sound (A)

Beep, beep, beeeep! (A)
Slam! Bam! Bam! (B) (QUATRAIN)
Beep, beep, beeeep! (A)
Bam! Slam! Slam! (B)

Even when I close my door (A)
The noise comes in (B) (TRIPLET)
I can’t take it anymore (A)

Siblings fight; One of the cries (A)
It doesn’t help to close my eyes (A) (COUPLET)

The phone rings (A)
The t.v. blares (B) (QUATRAIN)
I want SILENCE (C)
But no one cares (B)

Maybe I’ll hide under my bed (A)
Pile pillows over my head (A) (COUPLET)

Stick cotton in my ears (A)
And stay that way (B) (QUATRAIN)
For years (A)
And years (A)

Your Challenge: Try some of these patterns and post them on www.kidswrite4kids.com
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