A Quatern is a sixteen line poem of four quatrains. It has a refrain that is repeated in each quatrain: in the first line of stanza one, second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fourth line of stanza four. It has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme.



For those not familiar with the bible stories:

Genesis 37-50
Joseph was the favored son of Jacob also known as Israel. This made his brothers jealous and they captured him and plotted to kill him. A caravan was traveling by at the time and the brothers decided to sell Joseph as a slave instead and then tell their father that Joseph had been killed.
Joseph had many trials in Egypt including being a slave, being wrongly accused and put in prison. When he had the opportunity to interpret a dream for Pharaoh about seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, Joseph was given power to rule all Egypt and put in charge of creating a plan to create storage for the coming famine. When the famine came, Joseph's brothers found themselves in need and traveled to Egypt for food. Joseph was reunited with his family and they were saved from the famine.

1 Samuel 17
When Israel and the Philistines went to war against each other, the Philistine champion Goliath challenged Israel to send a warrior to fight with him in personal combat. If anyone could kill him then the Philistines would be the servants of Israel. Goliath was large and fearsome so no one dared accept the challenge. David was a shepherd boy at the time. He had come to bring supplies to his older brothers. He volunteered to face Goliath with his slingshot and a handful of stones. Goliath laughed at the youth, but was killed when a stone from David's slingshot hit him in the middle of his forehead.

Book of Esther
Esther was a Jewish woman married to Ahasuerus, king of Persia. When a plot was hatched to kill the Jews within the Persian empire, she braved entering the throne room to speak to the king to invite him to dinner. No one was allowed to approach the throne without permission. To do so was to risk death. Esther had not been visited by the king for some time so she was not certain her standing. The king extended his scepter to Esther indicating that she had his approval to approach. For more on how Esther saved her people see the Book of Esther in the Bible.

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