Originally an Italian pastoral song the Madrigal is written in lines of either seven or eleven syllables and is composed of two or three tercets followed by one or two rhyming couplets. With the variable number of lines and line lengths is an equally variable rhyme scheme.
For the English Madrigal, developed by Geoffrey Chaucer, the rules are a lot more defined.
The lines are written in iambic pentameter or 10-syllables. The poem consists of three stanzas: a tercet, a quatrain, and a sestet. The three lines of the opening tercet are all refrain lines and the rhyme scheme is as follows:
AB1B2 abAB1 abbAB1B2
Example
Moon Shine Madrigal by JezzieG
As darkness falls, I see my Lady rise
to bathe the world in silver blue moon shine
and while I pray, I know this love is Thine.
To full moon’s magic light, I lift my eyes
to see the joyful peace, you bring is mine
as darkness falls, I see my Lady rise
to bathe the world in silver blue moon shine
In open fields beneath the urban skies
in meditative thought of pure divine
where no living barriers can confine
as darkness falls, I see my Lady rise
to bathe the world in silver blue moon shine
and while I pray, I know this love is Thine
Jezzie G 