A rose lay in an open grave
Vision of beauty in death
Kneeling prayer a saving grace
Breathing joy with every breath.
Your undying love my saving faith
A rose lay in an open grave
Addicted to your love I crave
Like a convert my life you saved.
Walking poetry true elegance
Your name within my heart engraved.
A rose lay in an open grave.
Beauty in death evident.
In death itself a endlessness
Like a limitless ocean wave
Thoughts conquered by benevolence.
A rose lay in an open grave
The Quatern is a 16-line rhyming poem that is somewhat like the Kyrielle. It is a French form and has 8 syllables per line. It is written in quatrains (four line stanzas). It also has a refrain line that appears in each stanza. However, unlike the Kyrielle, the refrain line in a Quatern moves. It begins as the first line in the first stanza, then moves down one line in each consecutive stanza, until it becomes the last line of the last stanza.
The Quatern does not have to follow any patterned meter, such as iambic meter, nor does it have to conform to any set rhyme scheme.