Best examples of examples of structure of Chant Royal (with modern twists)

Classic examples of structure of Chant Royal

When people talk about examples of structure of Chant Royal, they’re usually talking about the classic French version that developed in the late Middle Ages. Think of it as a highly patterned song with moving parts that always show up in the same order.

A traditional Chant Royal in English usually follows this layout:

• Five stanzas of 11 lines each (often in iambic pentameter in English)
• A strict rhyme scheme: a b a b c c d d e d E (the capital E is the refrain line)
• The same refrain line repeated as the last line of each stanza
• A 5‑line envoy (sometimes 7) using b c d e E

Let’s walk through some examples of examples of structure of Chant Royal so you can see those parts in action.

Example of a “skeleton” Chant Royal (no content, just pattern)

Before we get fancy, it helps to look at a bare‑bones version. Imagine this as a blueprint where the letters show rhyme, and the last line of each stanza is identical.

Stanza 1 (11 lines)

1. a
2. b
3. a
4. b
5. c
6. c
7. d
8. d
9. e
10. d
11. E (refrain)

Stanza 2 (11 lines) – same rhyme letters, same refrain at line 11
Stanza 3 (11 lines) – same
Stanza 4 (11 lines) – same
Stanza 5 (11 lines) – same

Envoy (5 lines)

1. b
2. c
3. d
4. e
5. E (refrain)

This is the cleanest example of structure of Chant Royal: you keep the rhyme sounds consistent across all stanzas, and you never change the refrain line.

A short modern English example of structure of Chant Royal

To keep this practical, here’s a miniaturized Chant Royal in English. It uses the same logic as the full form, but with shorter lines so you can focus on how the structure works.

I’ll mark the rhyme letters at the end of each line in brackets and bold the refrain.

Stanza 1

The city wakes in silver, thin with light (a)
A bus door sighs, the barista checks the clock (b)
Old pigeons circle over signs too bright (a)
A jogger weaves through traffic at the block (b)
The river holds the first faint hint of day (c)
Its ripples smear the neon into clay (c)
A cyclist hums a song he half‑recalls (d)
A vendor slides the shutters from his stalls (d)
A siren curls, then thins into the air (e)
The city lifts its thousand private prayers (d)

And still the river keeps its quiet vow. (E)

Rhyme pattern: a b a b c c d d e d E. The last line is the refrain.

Stanza 2

Now office towers flicker into glow (a)
A woman scrolls through headlines on the train (b)
A boy rehearses jokes he’ll never show (a)
A street musician tunes against the rain (b)
The river takes the trash and carries on (c)
It wears the morning like a borrowed dawn (c)
A taxi cuts a hurried yellow streak (d)
A vendor shouts the first low price of week (d)
A pigeon lands, imperious, on the prow (e)
The city trades its silence for a vow (d)

And still the river keeps its quiet vow. (E)

Same rhyme letters. Same refrain. This is exactly how examples of structure of Chant Royal keep their spine: repetition plus pattern.

Envoy (short)

So when the day grows heavy, thick, and loud (b)
Remember how the morning brushed the stone (c)
Remember how the vendor faced the crowd (d)
Remember how the river moved alone (e)

And still the river keeps its quiet vow. (E)

Is this a full 5‑stanza Chant Royal? No. But as a teaching piece, it’s one of the best examples of how the structure feels in real language: recurring rhyme sounds, a steady refrain, and a closing envoy that circles back.

Historical examples of structure of Chant Royal in French tradition

If you’re looking for real examples from the form’s original language, you’ll need to head toward medieval and Renaissance French poetry. The Chant Royal was used for grand, formal subjects—often religious or moral.

Some examples include:

• Guillaume de Machaut (14th century) – While he’s better known for ballades and rondeaux, his era shaped the fixed forms that led to the Chant Royal. The structure you’re studying grows from that same courtly tradition.
• Clément Marot (16th century) – A key figure in French lyric poetry. Anthologies of Marot and his contemporaries often include fixed‑form poems with Chant‑Royal‑like layouts.

For students who want to compare structures across forms, the Poetry Foundation has a helpful overview of French fixed forms in English translation:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/fixed-form

While not every anthology will label a poem “Chant Royal” in bold letters, you’ll recognize the form by its five long stanzas with a refrain and a closing envoy. That repeating structure is what matters most when you’re collecting examples of structure of Chant Royal for study.

Contemporary examples of structure of Chant Royal (2024–2025 trends)

In 2024–2025, you’re more likely to see the Chant Royal pop up in:

• Online formal poetry workshops (Discord servers, Substack communities, and private forums)
• University creative writing classes that explore fixed forms
• Niche poetry contests that focus on traditional structures

Many modern poets treat the Chant Royal as a challenge form—something to try once or twice, the way runners sign up for a marathon. A few examples include:

• A climate‑themed Chant Royal where each stanza focuses on a different ecosystem (ocean, forest, city, arctic, farm), and the refrain is a repeated warning or hope.
• A social‑media‑era Chant Royal where the refrain is a recurring hashtag phrase, and each stanza moves through a different platform or type of online voice.
• A narrative Chant Royal about a single day in a hospital, with each stanza set in a different ward, and the refrain echoing a line from intake paperwork or a nurse’s repeated question.

If you’re studying writing craft, university writing centers like Harvard’s Writing Center offer general guidance on reading and structuring complex texts, which can help you plan long formal poems:
https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu

These aren’t always labeled as Chant Royal in big mainstream magazines, but the underlying structure is the same: repeating refrain, consistent rhyme scheme, and a final envoy that gathers everything together.

Side‑by‑side: examples of examples of structure of Chant Royal vs. ballade

Writers often confuse the Chant Royal with the ballade, so it helps to see examples of examples of structure of Chant Royal contrasted with another form.

A ballade typically has:

• Three main stanzas (often 8 lines)
• A shorter envoy
• A refrain, but fewer total lines than a Chant Royal

Compare that to the Chant Royal:

• Five 11‑line stanzas
• A 5‑line envoy
• A more demanding rhyme pattern that must be sustained over 60+ lines

If you see a poem with only three stanzas and a refrain, it’s probably a ballade. If you see five big stanzas and a refrain, you’re almost certainly looking at a Chant Royal. That’s one of the best examples of how to identify the structure quickly when you’re browsing anthologies or online archives.

The Poetry Foundation’s glossary entry on the ballade is a good comparison point:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ballade

Building your own: practical examples of structure of Chant Royal as a writing plan

Let’s turn these examples of structure of Chant Royal into a usable writing plan. Think of it as a recipe you can tweak.

You might outline like this:

• Stanza 1 – Setup: Introduce your main image or subject (a city, a relationship, a season). End with a refrain that can carry emotional weight across all five stanzas.
• Stanza 2 – Expansion: Move to a new angle or time of day, but keep the same rhyme sounds and the exact same refrain line.
• Stanza 3 – Complication: Let conflict or tension enter. The refrain now feels slightly different because the context has shifted.
• Stanza 4 – Deepening: Emotional or thematic depth increases; the refrain might start to sound ironic, hopeful, or desperate, depending on the direction.
• Stanza 5 – Turning point: Bring the narrative or argument to its highest point. When the refrain lands here, it should feel like a summary or a challenge.
• Envoy – Call or echo: Address a person, a group, or an abstract idea directly (a city, a season, a god, a future self), using the b c d e E rhyme pattern and ending with the refrain one last time.

This kind of planning turns the abstract “rules” into real examples of how to think through structure before you write a single line.

More focused micro‑examples: refrains, rhyme, and tone

To round out our examples of examples of structure of Chant Royal, let’s zoom into specific parts of the form.

Example of a versatile refrain

A good refrain needs to feel slightly different each time it appears. Here are a few sample refrain lines that could anchor a Chant Royal:

• “And still the river keeps its quiet vow.” – Works for environmental, urban, or spiritual themes.
• “We never knew the cost until we paid.” – Suits political, personal, or historical topics.
• “The story ends the way it always starts.” – Great for cyclical narratives or generational stories.

All of these can be plugged into the classic pattern. Each stanza would end with the exact same line, but the meaning would shift as the poem develops.

Example of rhyme pressure

Because the rhyme scheme is so tight, you want rhyme sounds that give you room to move. For English, these sets work well:

• “ay” sound for a and b (day, say, play, away, display, gray)
• “ight” sound for c (light, night, sight, flight)
• “air” sound for d (care, prayer, stair, share)
• “own” sound for e (down, town, crown, brown)

You can test this by sketching a quick stanza outline and seeing whether you can fill each rhyme slot without twisting your language unnaturally. This small exercise gives you practical examples of structure of Chant Royal planning before you commit to all five stanzas.

FAQ: examples of Chant Royal structure and practice

Q: Can you give a quick example of how to start a Chant Royal?
Yes. Begin by choosing your refrain line first, because it will anchor the entire poem. For instance, pick something like, “The city never sleeps, it only shifts.” Then draft your first stanza with the rhyme pattern a b a b c c d d e d E, making sure that final line is exactly the same each time. That first stanza becomes your working example of the pattern you’ll follow for the rest.

Q: Are there modern published examples of Chant Royal in English?
They’re rare, but they do exist in formalist journals and anthologies focused on fixed forms. When you search, try terms like “Chant Royal poem” along with “formal verse” or “fixed forms.” Look for five 11‑line stanzas, a repeated refrain, and an envoy. Those three traits together are strong examples of structure of Chant Royal even if the magazine doesn’t label them loudly.

Q: Do I have to stick to 11‑line stanzas?
If you want to stay very traditional, yes. However, many workshop leaders in 2024–2025 encourage “training‑wheel” versions: shorter line counts per stanza or slightly looser meter. These are not textbook‑perfect, but they make good learning examples of how the structure works before you commit to a full‑length Chant Royal.

Q: Is the Chant Royal still taught in schools or universities?
Some creative writing and literature programs still cover it when they look at French fixed forms or historical prosody. It’s less common than sonnets or villanelles, but it shows up in advanced or specialized courses. University resources, like writing guides from institutions such as Harvard or other major universities, can help you analyze long, patterned texts in general, even if they don’t name the Chant Royal directly.

Q: What are the best examples of practice exercises for this form?
Start by writing only one 11‑line stanza with a refrain. Once that feels comfortable, write a second stanza using the same rhyme sounds and refrain. Treat those two stanzas as your personal examples of structure of Chant Royal. When you can do that without checking the pattern every two seconds, you’re ready to tackle all five stanzas and the envoy.

By walking through classic, modern, and “training‑wheel” versions, you now have multiple examples of examples of structure of Chant Royal to reference. Use them like architectural drawings: copy the frame, then fill it with your own story, your own music, and your own refrain.