Huitain

The Huitain (eight-liner) is a special form of the punch from France in eight verses of 8 or 10 syllables each. The verses are linked by three rhymes , one of which occurs four times according to the scheme: ababbcbc or abbaacac . The Huitain was cultivated in French literature especially in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance (14th to early 16th centuries), for example by Alain Chartier , François Villon or Clément Marot .

Example:

Plus ne suis ce que i'ay esté

Et ne le sçaurois iamais estre.

Mon beau printemps & mon esté

Ont faict le sault par la fenestre.

Amour, tu as esté mon maistre,

Ie t'ay seruy sur tous les Dieux;

O si ie pouuois deux foys naistre,

Comme ie te seruiroys mieux!

In slightly modernized French:

Plus ne suis ce que j'ai été

Et ne le saurois jamais être.

Mon beau printemps et mon été

Ont fait le saut par la fenêtre.

Amour, tu as été mon maître,

Je t'ai servi sur tous les dieux;

O si je pouvois deux fois naître,

Comment je te servirois mieux!

Translated into German:

Who I once was, it's not me anymore

and never will be me again.

About the window disappeared

the flower season, summer mine.

As a mistress you found, love,

I serve you alone before others,

if I were born again

be more faithful to be of service.

(Clément Marot, Epigramme de soy mesme, translated by Karl Krolow in "Poesie der Welt / France", p. 59)

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