Virelay

Virelay is the name given to more than one fixed form of verse, from the French virer, "to turn or veer". The history and exact character of the virelay are more obscure than those of any other of the old French forms. It is possible that it is connected with the Provençal ley. Historians of poetry have agreed in stating that it is a modification of the medieval lai, but it is curious that no example of the lai is forthcoming, except the following, which was first printed by the Père Mourgues in his Traité de Poésie: