The rules for writing a pentelope are simple to understand but devilishly difficult to translate into practice. There must be five lines; each line must end with a word of the same kind but with a different vowel in the last syllable. The vowels, moreover, must be in alphabetical order: ie, a e i o u (or their phonetic equivalent). The word 'pentelope' may be based on three Greek roots meaning 'five', 'end' and 'voiced'. For more, see here, et seq.
Here are three pentelopes produced as a result of recent exchanges between your author and a French friend and contributor to this site ('GH'). I've included a fairly simple translation of each French verse.
Sans teeth, sans everything
Ce qui me reste dans la mémoire?
Les fous-rires de ma grand-mère,
Mon petit cochon-tirelire,
Queqlues vieux contes du folklore,
Débris vivants d'une aventure.
GH 2019
[What remains in my memory?
My grandmother's giggles,
My little piggy bank,
A few fairy tales...
Living remains of an adventure]
Intimations of immortality from early childhood
Me promenant tout seul dans l'allée des ha ! ha !
cette grande invention par Le Nôtre créée,
J'avançais là pensif encore tout ébahi
De tout ce que la vie recèle de cahots
Depuis les jours heureux au sortir du bahut.
GH 2019
"Le bahut" (= the dining-room furniture suite) is the affectionate nickname of the secondary school one belongs to.
[Walking on my own along a ha-ha,
That wonderful creation of Le Nôtre,
I moved forwards thoughtfully and in amazement
At all the surprises life presents
From the happy days of infancy to the end of school days]
Here is a small offering to console all those masters and pupils we have known over the years, with their slightly differing tales of woe...
Bringing up the rires
or'Must try harder'
Come in and won't you please sit down, Gérard?
Your French report, by my esteem'd confrère,
Reveals from 'First' you now 'bring up the rear'.
Your conjugations cause a fine furore:
The latest gaffe was writing crûrent for crurent!
PB 2019
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