Luc Bat

The luc bat is a Vietnamese climbing rhyme verse. Lines of six syllables alternate with lines of eight syllables. Hence the name luc bat (Vietnamese = "six eight"). Each rhyme occurs three times: at the end of the first 8-syllable line, at the end of the next 6-syllable line, and as the sixth syllable of the next 8-syllable line. The end loops back to the beginning couplet.

A Luc Bat

The luc bat shows two trends.
The poem's rhyme scheme tends to climb;
Lines alternate in time.
A six-beat line is prime; an eight-
Beat one succeeds its mate.
The form is not ornate, and yet
Does its job... Don't forget,
To conclude this vignette, it bends.

Examples

A Bog Body

The body in the bog
Has lain there like a log till now.
Then, unearthed by a plough
Cutting grooves in the slough for peat,
Head, torso, hands, and feet
Eventually complete the scene.
The corpse is not pristine,
And what the death might mean, doubted.
The reasons are clouded;
It's mystery shrouded in fog.

example 2

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