The triolet is an obscure, indeed arcane verse form with a very specific structure and rhyme-scheme. Originally found in Old French among the works of medieval poets such as Charles d'Orleans and Francois Villon, it was (along with other forms such as the Ballade, the Rondeau, the Pantoum and the Villanelle) re-introduced to English poetry in the 19th Century by writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson.

At the turn of the 19th - 20th Centuries, a book entitled Ballades and Rondeaus, selected by Gleeson White under the general heading 'The Canterbury Poets' was published by Walter Scott Ltd. It included a selection of triolets and examples of all the other major Old French forms. Sadly, it was undated, so the question of copyright prevents the inclusion here of any of the published poems.

The characteristic of most of the old medieval verse forms was a very strict rhyme scheme, frequently with repeated lines. In the case of the triolet the rhyme scheme is A, B, A, A, A, B, A, B. However, the first two lines are repeated exactly as the last two lines, and furthermore, the fourth line is a repeat of the first line. It is a form that lends itself to trivia.

Here is an example:

'Apologia'

I felt like a fool
When I drove through your wall
Returning from school,
I felt like a fool,
And crashed into your pool!
Though the hole was quite small
I felt like a fool
When I drove through your wall.