Terza Rima
Terza rima is a poetry form that uses three-line stanzas, with an interlocking
rhyme-scheme. (aba, bcb, cdc, ded ...)
A terza rima poem can be any length, always keeping to the set pattern of
rhymes. It is most often written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line,
with every second syllable stressed), though by no means exclusively!
eg:
Stanza #1
A) House
B) Home
A) Spouse
In the second and following stanzas, the first and third lines repeat the rhyme
from line #2 in the preceding stanza.
Stanza #2
B) Roam (Same rhyme as B in stanza #1)
C) Mike (New Rhyme in this stanza)
B) Loam (Same rhyme as B in stanza #1)
Stanza #3
C) Bike (Same rhyme as C in stanza #2)
D) Brook (New Rhyme in this stanza)
C) Like (Same rhyme as C in stanza #2)
Stanza #4
D) Look (Same rhyme as D in stanza #3)
E) Night (New Rhyme in this stanza)
D) Took (Same rhyme as D in stanza #3)
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
TERZA RIMA, or " third rhyme," is a form of verse adapted from the Italian poets
of the 13th century. Its origin has been attributed by some to the three-lined
ritourhel, which was an
early Italian form of popular poetry, and by others to the sirventes of the
Provencal troubadours. The serventese in-catenato of the latter was an
arrangement of triple rhymes,
and unquestionably appears to have a relation with terza rima; this connexion
becomes almost a certainty when we consider the admiration expressed by the
Tuscan poets of the 13th century for the metrical inventions of their
forerunners, the Provencals.
In Italian, a stanza of terza rima consists of three lines of eleven syllables,
linked with the next stanza, and with the next, and so on, by a recurrence of
rhymes: thus aba, bcb, cdc, ded, &c., so that, however long the poem is, it can
be divided nowhere without severing the continuity of the rhyme.
Schuchardt put forward an ingenious theory that these successive terzinas are
really chains of ritournera. Just as ottava rima, according to the same theory,
is a chain of rispetti.
There were, unquestionably, chains of interwoven triple rhymed lines before the
days of Dante, but it was certainly he who raised terza rima from the category
of folk-verse, and gave it artistic character.
However, most commonly, Dante is credited with inventing the form, and used it
for his Divine Comedy, perhaps as a means of symbolizing the Trinity, and for
giving an overall
sense of unity to his large work. It's most likely that Dante fashioned the
terza rima after
the Old Provencal "sirventes" (which was a lyric poem form used by troubadours,
and often used themes of personal abuse or praise.)
= = = =
The terza rima form came into English with Chaucer ("Complaint to his Lady").
Other English poet's including Byron ("The Prophecy of Dante") and Shelley ("Ode
to the West Wind," "The Triumph of Life," and "Prince Athanase") used the form
with a few variations (notably the ending). Shelley's West Wind, for example,
ends in a rhyming couplet sometimes the West Wind is referred to as a Terza Rima
Sonnet). In the 20th century, W.H. Auden ("The Sea and the Mirror") and
Archibald Mac Leash ("The Conquistador") made use of the form. The following
example is from Auden's "The Sea and The Mirror":
II: The Supporting Cast, Sotto Voce
As all the pigs have turned back into men
And the sky is auspicious and the sea
Calm as a clock, we can all go home again.
Yes, it undoubtedly looks as if we
Could take life as easily now as tales
Write ever-after: not only are the
Two heads silhouetted against the sails
--And kissing, of course--well built, but the lean
Fool is quite a person, the fingernails
Of the dear old butler for once quite clean,
(etc.)
= = = = =
Robert Frost made the following interesting use of terza rima as a sonnet,
ending in a couplet.
Acquainted with the Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain--and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-by;
and further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
(Robert Frost)
= = = = =
Have fun,
neil