Paul Braffort

Issue 14 · Fall 2014

The triolet is a fixed poetic form used with success from the Middle Ages to the time of Alphonse Daudet, but which today is (unfortunately) neglected. It is a poem of two stanzas where the rhyme scheme is a b a a a b a b. In addition, the first line is repeated at lines 4 and 7, and the second line is repeated on line 8.

Adopting the combinatory principle invented by Raymond Queneau in his 100 000 000 000 000 poems, Paul Braffort has composed six “compatible” triolets for which the recombination pattern allows a total of 6⁵, or 7,776, triolets. (Description translated from the ALAMO website.)

This is a translation of a French program, written by Eric Joncquel. Translation to English by Erik Stayton and Patsy Baudoin.