Song That Luc Bat

The Song Thất Lục Bát (literally "double seven, six eight") is a Vietnamese form, which consists of a quatrain of two seven syllable lines, followed by a six syllable line and an eight syllable line.

In Vietnamese, the form uses an internal rhyme scheme that is almost impossible to replicate in English successfully. As a result, English versions of the form give the first two lines a shared tail rhyme, and turn the last two into a luc bat couplet, where the sixth syllable of the third line rhymes with the sixth syllable of the fourth. When linking multiple stanzas together, the eighth syllable of the fourth line should rhyme with the first two lines of the next stanza.

Examples in Vietnamese include:
*Chinh Phụ Ngâm (The Complaint of the Warrior's Wife ) by Ðoàn Thị Ðiểm
*Cung Oán Ngâm Khúc (Sadness of the Palace ) by Nguyễn Gia Thiều

References

* [http://www.limsi.fr/Individu/dang/webvn/epoesie.htm Poesie Vietnamienne]
* [http://www.volecentral.co.uk/vf/luc_bat.htm#Song%20That%20Luc%20Bat Guide to Verse Forms: Song That Luc Bat]
* [http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/orient.html#luc Oriental Poetry: Song That Luc Bat] (found under "Luc Bat")