I’ve found it funny how songs about death can be sung within children’s songs… London Bridge Is Falling Down, Humpty Dumpty… what have our children been singing?!
Alouette is one of those songs. A popular children’s tune made popular in the late 1700s, it is a sweet song about a little skylark bird that sings the higher it goes. The lyrics also insinuate killing, cleaning and eating the bird as well. So much for happy little singing birds!
Observe these lyrics!!
Alouette
Little skylark, lovely little skylark,
Little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.
I'll pluck the feathers off your back.
I'll pluck the feathers off your back.
Off your back!
Off your back!
Off your tail!
Off your tail!
Off your legs!
Off your legs!
Off your wings!
Off your wings!
Off your neck!
Off your neck!
Off your eyes!
Off your eyes!
Off your beak!
Off your beak!
Off your head!
Off your head!
Little lark!
Little lark!
O-o-o-oh
Little skylark, lovely little skylark,
Little skylark, I'll pluck your feathers off.
Wow! Talk about heavy!! Opposites really do make the world go around. The singing.quality of this song allowed for a fine rhythm for French canoeists trapping beaver in the new world. Also, cleaning birds was no strange thing before processed meats of today. The song was also brought back from soldiers serving in France during World War I, and no doubt provided a fine cadence to march to.
An alouette is also considered a poem form made popular by a poet named Jan Turner. The form is simple… It consists of two or more stanzas, six lines each, with a syllable meter of 5-5-7-5-5-7 and a rhyme scheme of a-a-b-c-c-b. A rather simple form, it carries a succinct rhyme that can mellifluous in its flow as well as potent in its brevity.
Consider this poem in the alouette form:
mon petite alouette
skip with me daddy!
we play hopscotch see?
I want you to lift me up!
now you put me down!
I chase the dog round!
oww… I fell and hurt my foot!
is it okay? swing…!
let’s swing on the swing!
you promised you’d play with me…
the suns going down!
you’re never around…
you promised you’d sing daddy!
now put me to bed
worn out and well fed
now aren’t I the cutest sight…?
read me a story
of bears and porridge
kiss me then whisper goodnight
©️penned by: m.e.
all rights reserved
Note the proper syllable structure, as well as the simple yet catchy rhyme scheme. When properly applied, this form can be both profound and song like, especially when written with a good hook, like the parental angle I attempted above.
It’s always fun to learn different forms, and the quality potential of this music friendly form makes writing in the allotted style delightful… as long as you are not a skylark not wanting to get plucked!
I hope this article was helpful and thank you for reading!
Matt Elmore
Image from: Wikipedia
References:
https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaning-behind-the-murderous-french-lullaby-alouette/
http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/alouette.html
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