The baccresiezé is a syllabic and rhymed poetic form attributed to E. Ernest Murell as an exercise in the use of refrains and half-refrains. This form is closely related to the villanelle, another syllabic, rhymed, stanzaic, refrained poetic form.

It is twelve lines written in three quatrains which use the rhyme scheme AaxB bxAB xxxB, where x is an unrhymed line, and capital letters represent repeated refrains. The first three lines of each quatrain contain eight syllables each, and the final line has four syllables. In the first quatrain, the last four syllables of the second line (the one marked 'a') are a repetition (a half-refrain) of the final four syllables of the first line of the poem.

The Wil by by Judi Van Gorder is a baccresiezé, and follows here, with the rhyme scheme and syllable count adjacent:

A.8. I read of love, undying love,
a.8. what does that mean, undying love?
x.8. A rose withers, a blossom falls,
B.4. what lives will die.

b.8. Love is a will, a rush, a sigh,
x.8. a touch, a cry, a hope, a rock.
A.8. I read of love, undying love,
B.4. what lives will die.

x.8. Blush of new love we know must fade
x.8. replaced in time with trust and grace.
x.8. In rest, I will my love remain.
B.4. What lives will die.


Iron Noder Challenge 2014, 15/30