Hello poets, Gayle here from Bodhirose’s Blog, with a revisit to a fun form that Tony Maude first introduced to us a couple of years back for Meeting the Bar.
Bouts-Rimés (pronounced Boo-ReeMay) is French for “rhymed ends” and was the name given to a rhyming game that was formulated by an obscure French poet named Dulot from the 17th century. Not much else is known about him.
According to “Menagiana,” published in 1693 France, around the year 1648 Dulot complained that 300 of his sonnets had been stolen. Upon hearing this people were surprised that he had written so many but then Dulot explained that he, in fact, had only written down the end rhyming words (bouts-rimés) for the sonnets and not the sonnets themselves. Being amused by this admission, the idea was soon embraced and became a popular writing pastime that continued through part of the 18th century and then picked up again in the 19th century and then popularly known as Crambo. So then the challenge became that a list of rhyming words were given to poets and in the order in which they were given, used as the end rhymes of each line of their poem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouts-Rim%C3%A9s
The most interesting incident in the history of bouts-rimés is the fact that the elder writer Alexandre Dumas, in 1864, became involved in the challenge and issued an invitation to all the poets of France to display their skill by composing to sets of rhymes selected for the purpose by the poet, Joseph Méry (1798-1866). No fewer than 350 writers responded to the appeal, and Dumas published the results in 1865.

Alexandre Dumas
Google Images; Public Domain
Here is one example using the words: tanned, jump, fanned, lump; reading, lawn, misleading, yawn; yo-yo, death, no-no, breath; France and pants as outlined in the book by Ron Padgett, in his “Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms” (2nd Edition).
Getting burnt, evaporated, bleached, or tanned
By the sun ain’t no way to jump.
I’d rather plop in shadow, be fanned
By some geisha girl, and lay around like a proverbial lump.
I’m not that hot for so-called good reading;
I just crave a cool drink on a bluegreen lawn.
I mean, don’t let me be misleading:
Where I’m at is sorta like the center of a yawn.
You know, excitement’s like being a yo-yo—
I don’t wanna beat the subject to death,
And it isn’t that repetition ain’t no no-no,
But the last thing I hope to be is out of breath.
So let somebody else go lost-generate all over France,
Or fly to the moon, discover Africa, some damn hotshot smartypants.
— Jack Collom
Here is my own poem that I wrote for Tony Maude’s challenge using the words drive, side, night, lied, wage, saved, made, face, nurse, church, worse, purse, back, that:
Back Nine
The first I sliced into the woods, the second was a perfect drive
that landed smack dab in the middle of the green, not to one side
Funny thing, when I use those glow-in-the-dark balls made for night
golf, my game is better. Once, a long putt was placed exquisitely, lied
gently teetering on the edge of the cup and then, plop! A pro’s wage
would have been handsome! The moment is etched, saved
in my memories as one that brought such joy, and pride, it made
me blush to be complimented by my partner and see her admiring face.
Many a time, up at the clubhouse after a game, poor sports would nurse
their lousy scores with liquor and others would brag about missing church
with the family for another Sunday. The back nine was far worse
than the front…many treacherous bunkers and water holes, and many a purse
was lost through wager. While some were won back,
others were left at that.
by Gayle Walters Rose
The skill in bout rimés lies not only in producing a poem that uses the rhyming words at the end of each line as required, but in using them in a way that makes sense and seems natural. The stranger the set of rhymes, the harder this is to do.
Our challenge for today is to use the following fourteen words in the order presented: stay, sits, play, wits, fits, comedy, flits, tragedy, eye, smart, cry, heart, moan, stone. These words were borrowed from a sonnet by Edmund Spenser.
So we will be writing a fourteen line poem with each of these words being our end line rhymes and they must be used in the order presented. You may choose to write a sonnet using iambic pentameter if you wish (as was traditional) but it isn’t necessary.
I look forward to reading your unique creations!
Here are instructions on linking your poetry:
- Leave a small comment below, or please join us in our discussions.
- Click on Mr. Linky and enter your name where indicated, copy the URL of your poem and enter it into the space provided and then click “Enter.”
- There you will find links to all the other poets. Others will join during the next 48 hours so check back for more reading.
- Read and comment on other poet’s work, we all come here to have our poems read and to be acknowledged.
- Promote the poetry that you like on the social media of your choice.
- Please link back to dVerse from your site.
- Enjoy and have fun!
Love Bout Rime – i will come back a little later. Just came out of a concert
Gayle, thank you for an interesting prompt!! The words were fun to play with.
Gayle, you stretched me with this challenge ~ I will be back to read and comment when I get home ~
cheers ~
Hello all, I apologize for my tardiness today. It is a stretch, Grace, but also fun to give it a try.
Hi Mary, I’m glad you found it fun to play with. It is an interesting prompt. And it will be interesting to see who was up for the challenge. 🙂
Intriguing, but for me a bridge too far – kind of wordle cubed. I shall enjoy reading everybody else’s!
Perhaps you could give it a go for an OLN, Vivian. Always nice to see you.
Thanks, Gayle, for a challenge to get my teeth into, but I’ll have to come back to it in the morning. Night 😴
Goodnight, Kim, see you tomorrow and look forward to your offering. 🙂
Hey everyone,
Phew! That was one hell of a challenge 🙂 sharing my poem “Lovelorn” hope you all like it 🙂
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Hi Sanaa, I know I will enjoy your work…I always do. 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
Jeez, it’s so long since I’ve been on the old blog I had almost forgotten how to post a post! But I have and it is with thanks to you Gayle for inspiring me – cheers!
Kind regards
Anna :o]
Hey, that’s nice to hear that you have been inspired, Anna. Cheers!
I had to sit in on a telephone conference until now.. I will be back tomorrow morning and read.
Goodnight, Bjorn…see you tomorrow sometime.
That’s a really fun story. I never heard that before or heard of the form of writing 🙂 can’t wait to read
Glad that you enjoyed. It is an interesting form that I hope you’ll give a try to. 🙂
This was fun…not as difficult or confining as I thought it would be…I don’t know if my line lengths are too short but it’s what my muse asked me to do. 🙂 Thank you, Gayle!
You’re welcome, Hannah. I found that once you get started it kind of flows. I don’t think line lengths are an issue…no worries there. 🙂
Very fun challenge, Gayle. Most of my visits will likely be tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the end-rhymes inspire.
Thank you, Victoria, I’m glad you enjoyed it. It is fun to see what others come up with all using the same end words.
(I think my first attempt to comment got lost.) That was surprisingly productive!
Oh, sorry about that, Rosemary. I don’t know why that happens sometimes.
It’s nearly 10PM here and I’ll be signing off for the night but will return in the afternoon tomorrow (after Mira duties) to follow up and hopefully enjoy some more wonderful poetry.
Good evening – I am late but, I will be around to read
Hi Truedessa…so nice to see you here.
http://sejdb.livejournal.com/426245.html
Been a while for me since I’ve been though it…but here’s a new poem based on the bout-rimé. Sort of a draft but it was good to write something on this.
I hope to write more on this soon.
Thank you for joining with us today, Jacques.
Gayle ~
I have never written a sonnet. If I take up this challenge, it will be my first. 🙂
I’ve yet to write a proper one myself, Mahitha. I need to work on that. Thank you for joining in with dVerse today.
Gayle ~
thanks for the fun challenge 🙂
You’re welcome. 🙂
Gayle ~
alwasy impressed by how quickly
oops too quick off the ‘post comment’ button – impressed by how quickly responses to prompts come in. This was quite a challenge even though I kept it simple
Hi Laura, I guess it depends upon how fast an idea can inspire us. I’m glad you took up the challenge and joined us.
Gayle ~
A great blend of words that exposed themselves to tell the tale wonderfully. Thanks for them, Gayle.
So glad they worked for you, Walt…and you’re welcome!
Taking note of the book you showcased. Will order it from a local dealer. Thanks for the opportunity to think to something new.
I’m glad you were inspired to purchase it, Petru, and thanks for joining in today.
Gayle ~
It’s another poetry sudoku!!!! Took me a long time….I fear it’s a bit forced….but I had fun with it and that’s what count! 🙂 Thanks, Gayle — I do enjoy a challenge!
That’s exactly what counts, Lillian…having fun with it. And you’re welcome, so glad you were inspired to take up the challenge. 🙂
Gayle ~
This sparked another thought so I did a second take. Tonight’s a good night to make the rounds and read. See you then!
Wonderful, see you out on the trail!
So very glad you did Walt! Forgot to mention in my comment on the post itself, the title is thought provoking and beautiful!
After a crazy day for my son’s 21st birthday, I’m finally able to get back and read some of these wonderful poems. I’m so frustrated because I can’t seem to ever comment on poems when I access them through my WordPress App on my phone. I can read, like and reply to comments on my blog, but not comment on others. I often have a few moments when I could catch up a bit if only the App would work for that. Alas, I just have to wait until I can get to a computer proper. So now it’s off to do some reading! Peace, Linda
Hi Linda, sorry about your frustration with your app. I just used my phone to comment on a blog (I just wanted to see if it would work) and had no problem with the app. I never (or rarely) use the app to comment, it’s just too difficult, so prefer my laptop. I’ll see you out on the poetry trail!
Gayle ~
Hi Linda:
I really struggled with this one! Think I just have a hard time with rhyning — even when the rhymes are given! I tend to get singsongy — oh well, I had fun deconstructing and rebuilding an old nursery rhyme 🙂
Just did a bunch of reading with my morning coffee — more this evening. So amazing to see what folks did with the same words!
I loved what you did, Lillian…so creative and fun! 🙂
This is a fun and difficult prompt. 🙂
Hi Imelda…yes, I agree that it’s fun and challenging. But just look at all the great poetry that’s come of it!
Gayle ~
Enjoyed so many of these! Will be back to weekend reading this evening 🙂 Smiling I am over my last cup of Saturday morning coffee!
So glad to hear that, Lillian. 🙂
In just under the wire. 😉 Busy week/weekend with Bestie in town. Heading around now to a few, and will catch the rest later. Great prompt, Gayle!
Yay, De, happy that you made it in spite of all that you have had going on. You’re welcome! 🙂