''Terza rima '' (, also , ; ) is a

rhyming A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciously used for a musica ...

verse form, in which the poem, or each poem-section, consists of tercets (three-line stanzas) with an interlocking three-line

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB rh ...

: The last word of the second line in one tercet provides the rhyme for the first and third lines in the tercet that follows (ABA BCB CDC). The poem or poem-section may have any number of lines (not divisible by 3), but it ends with either a single line or a couplet, which repeats the rhyme of the middle line of the previous tercet (YZY Z or YZY ZZ). ''Terza rima'' was invented early in the fourteenth century by the Italian poet

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

for his narrative poem the ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'', which he set in hendecasyllabic lines. In English, poets often use

iambic pentameter Iambic pentameter ( ) is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in each line. Meter is measured in small groups of syllables called feet. "Iambi ...

. ''Terza rima'' is a challenging form for a poet, and it did not become common in the century following its invention. The form is especially challenging in languages that are inherently less rich in rhymes than Italian. ''Terza rima'' can give to the verse the effect of rhymes surging the narrative forward. It can also give a sense of continuity to the verse — the rhymes are woven together, and a reading of a canto cannot be stopped without the sense of something (the rhyme scheme) broken or unfinished. The rhymes of ''terza rima'' add the effect of echo and expectation — as a line is read there is the sense it will soon be followed by a rhyme that will complete the rhyme scheme. ''Terza rima'' can lend a sense of strength and solidity to the story or the poem — each tercet, though brief, has enough length to contain a complete thought or expression, that can be considered independently. Tercets are like the building blocks of the poem or canto, and the interwoven rhyme serves as the cement that binds them together.

History

The first use of ''terza rima'' is in Dante's ''

'', completed in 1320. In creating the form, Dante may have been influenced by the '' sirventes'', a

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

form used by the Provençal

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

s. Inspired by Dante, other Italian poets, including

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

and Boccaccio, began using the form.

English-language translations and poems

Translators and poets that write in English and use ''terza rima'' are often interested in exploring modifications and variations of the rhyme. The first occurrence of Dante’s ''terza rima'' rhyme scheme in English is found in parts II and III of Geoffrey Chaucer's short poem " Complaint to His Lady". ''Terza rima'' has been used by Thomas Wyatt,

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

(in '' The Prophecy of Dante'') and

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

(in his " Ode to the West Wind" and '' The Triumph of Life'').

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

also used the form in "Friends Beyond" to interlink the characters and continue the flow of the poem. 20th-century poets who have employed variations of the form include W. H. Auden ("The Sea and the Mirror"), T. S. Eliot ("Little Gidding"),

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

("Acquainted with the Night"), Elizabeth Jennings, Philip Larkin,

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

("The Conquistador", winner of the Pulitzer Prize 1932), James Merrill, Jacqueline Osherow, Sylvia Plath ("The Sow"),

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

("Terza Rima"), Gjertrud Schnackenberg,

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an influential American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories and poetry, and an artist. He achieved early recognition in California (largely through the enthusiasm ...

, Derek Walcott, Richard Wilbur and William Carlos Williams ("The Yachts"). A 21st-century example that adhere's closely to Dante's ''terza rima'' is David Ives' ''The Phobia Clinic'', which the author describes as a "philosophical horror novelette in verse using Dante's '' Inferno'' as its model". Edward Lowbury's adaptation of the form to six-syllable lines has been named ''piccola terza rima''."Craftsmanship in Versification", in Wolfgang Görtschacher's ''Contemporary Views on the Little Magazine Scene'', Poetry Salzburg, 2000, p. 549. English versions of the ''

'' are often set in iambic pentameter. Examples of English translations in the ''terza rima'' form include Robert Pinsky's version of the first book, ''Inferno'', and

Laurence Binyon Robert Laurence Binyon, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (10 August 1869 – 10 March 1943) was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. Born in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, England, his parents were Frederick Binyon, ...

's, Dorothy L. Sayers's and Peter Dale's versions of the entire work.

Examples

The opening lines of the ''

'':

References

External links

*
Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind"
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