Kyrielle

I’d never heard of a Kyrielle. When first trawling online to find out what it was, I discovered not only was it a French form of poetry which I’ll discuss a bit further on, but also it had been the name of an experimental metal band (2007-2010) from Stockholm, Sweden.

This band was formed by guitarist Kaz and joined by four others. They were heavily influenced by the Japanese Kei scene (something else I didn’t know about), a movement in Japan characterised by musicians sporting elaborate and androgynous costumes whilst wearing garish make-up.

Kyrielle (the Swedish metal band)

I was curious about the origins of the band’s name with its possible connection to the poetic form. I searched online to an ever continuing allusiveness of the band’s name origins falling deeper and deeper down a rabbit hole landing onto several sites of baby names, which was interesting, as I had just attended a baby shower.

Kyrielle is a primarily a girl’s name and it is derived from the poetic form written in the French Troubadour tradition that was popular during the Middle Ages. This type of poetry’s name originates from the Old French kiriele, a derivative of the Greek word kyrie, a type of Christian liturgical prayer. Kyrie Eleison translates from Greek to English as Lord, have mercy. Liturgies often repeat lines instilling a message.

The rhyming French Kyrielle is written in quatrains, with each quatrain repeating a line or phrase as a refrain, usually in the last line of the stanza. Each line is octosyllabic and three stanzas are the minimum. One can get creative with the rhyming scheme as long as the last line of each stanza is repeated i.e. aabB, abaB, aaaB, abcB .

I couldn’t find many examples of this poetic form. Some were variants on the structure with lines having more than eight syllables. Also along the way I discovered the Kyrielle Sonnet which consists of three rhyming quatrain stanzas with a non-rhyming couplet, adding another complexity.

Not much more to add on the subject, other than my own attempt at a Kyrielle. Formulating it provided its challenges and the result is a far cry from a traditional Troubadour theme (chivalry and courtly love).

Hear Her Cries

Cut from the heart of Mother’s rock,
loaded onto lorries, each block
destined for palaces and thrones
hauled away, inanimate bones

of Her bought and sold, She succumbs
to exploit, greed and beating drums
at our mercy, She grunts and groans
hauled away, inanimate bones

shout out to walking dead horses
all take stock, these arms racecourses
laid out in murderous war zones
hauled away, inanimate bones.

Thank you for reading.
Kate J

Sources
Britannica, 2025. Kyrielle. https://www.britannica.com/art/kyrielle accessed 4 May.
Last.fm, 2025. Visual Kei. https://www.last.fm/tag/visual+kei/wiki accessed 4 May.
Redmond, P. 2025. Kyrielle Origin and Meaning. https://nameberry.com/b/girl-baby-name-kyrielle accessed 4 May.
Shadow Poetry, 2025. Kyrielle. http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/kyrielle.html accessed 4 May.
Shadow Poetry, 2025. Kyrielle Sonnet. http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/kyriellesonnet.html
For Kyrielle music samples go to: https://www.reverbnation.com/kyriellebbb