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haijinik — trijan refrain tutorial
Published: 2011-12-21 14:12:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 955; Favourites: 9; Downloads: 4
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Description the trijan refrain, created by jan turner, is a fairly simple form. it consists of 3 9 line stanzas, all sharing the same beginning line. lines 7 and 8 of each stanza are a repeated refrain of the first four syllables/words of line 5 of the same stanza. the syllable count and rhyme scheme run as per below (this pattern, shown here once, is repeated for each of the 3 stanzas):

8 / A (same LINE to begin each stanza)
6 / B
8 / A
6 / B
8 / C
8 / C
4 / D (reapted first 4 syls/words from line 5)
4 / D (reapted first 4 syls/words from line 5)
8 / C


here is an example:

lurking trijan refrain

the truth comfits our senses not;
our gates are needle's eyes.
our vision: through with darkness shot;
unfit to pierce truth's guise.
lurking along peripheries
in places we but fail to see;
     lurking along,
     lurking along
is sheer, stark actuality.

the truth comfits our senses not;
we're deaf as well as mute.
we are spawn of the omniglot;
we flounder, less astute.
a siren's song of polyphones,
of hyper-sharp-sub-aural drones;
     a siren's song,
     a siren's song
that resonates through flesh and bones.

the truth comfits our senses not;
our mind is too finite.
everything is from nothing wrought;
without the black, no white.
a tale too long to comprehend,
so long its mouth devours its end;
     a tale too long,
     a tale too long
to help but all our senses rend.
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Comments: 11

Fundelstein [2013-11-07 21:22:16 +0000 UTC]

I've never heard of a trijan refrain before, but this made it easy to understand. And that's saying something compared to all my English classes! I'll have to try it out sometime... when I get better at rhyming. 

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haijinik In reply to Fundelstein [2013-11-09 23:02:15 +0000 UTC]

i love this form. it is a great forum for 3 person collaborations.

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DracoThunderwings [2013-10-31 02:15:15 +0000 UTC]

This is wonderful! I've just discovered Trijan refrain, and I am in love with it. Did you write the above poem? It's simply fantastic,

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haijinik In reply to DracoThunderwings [2013-10-31 19:07:56 +0000 UTC]

yes i did, and thank you! so, is the tutorial helpful?

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DracoThunderwings In reply to haijinik [2013-11-01 22:41:34 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I think it's wonderful! Thank you so much for it.

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haijinik In reply to DracoThunderwings [2013-11-01 23:04:15 +0000 UTC]

you know...trijan refrains lend themselves to collaboration if you might be interested, i am always open to collaborate. we can bring a third, so it is one stanza a piece, or we can just tag-team it

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DracoThunderwings In reply to haijinik [2013-11-02 03:34:32 +0000 UTC]

That would be really cool! I'd love to do that.

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haijinik In reply to DracoThunderwings [2013-11-02 07:20:16 +0000 UTC]

well, send me a note and we can get started if you would like, you can write the first stanza...just make sure you have a great first line

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DracoThunderwings In reply to haijinik [2013-11-02 19:09:08 +0000 UTC]

Okay, I will! But it may take me a bit - my muse can be uncooperative at times. I'll try to send one sometime today!

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haijinik In reply to DracoThunderwings [2013-11-02 21:40:35 +0000 UTC]

no rush. if you would like i can start.

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DracoThunderwings In reply to haijinik [2013-11-03 14:37:27 +0000 UTC]

Haha, I would appreciate that. ^^'

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