Terza Rima

 

WHAT IS IT?

Terza rima is a type of poetry, a rhyming verse form, in which the poem consists of tercets (three-line stanzas) with an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: 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). This makes it sort of a never-ending poem structure, but it has an ending. It ends with a single line or a rhyming couplet, which repeats the rhyme of the middle line of the previous tercet (yzy z or yzy zz). 

WHEN WAS IT INVENTED? AND BY WHOM?

Terza rima was invented early in the fourteenth century by the Italian poet, Dante Alighieri for his narrative poem the Divine Comedy, which he set in hendecasyllabic lines. It was completed in 1320. In creating the form, Dante may have been influenced by the sirventes, a lyric poetry form used by the Provençal troubadours. Inspired by Dante, other Italian poets, including Petrarch and Boccaccio, began using the form. In English, poets often use iambic pentameter (click to know more). 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 a 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.

The opening lines of the Divine Comedy:

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vitaA
mi ritrovai per una selva oscuraB
ché la diritta via era smarrita.A
 
Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa duraB
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forteC
che nel pensier rinnova la paura!B
 
Tant'è amara che poco è più morte;C
ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,D
dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.C
 
Io non so ben ridir com'i' v'intrai,D
tant'era pien di sonno a quel puntoE
che la verace via abbandonai.D


Here's a terza rima in English:

In twilight's hush, the whispers softly sing, A dance of shadows twirls beneath the moon, As nightfall wraps the earth in velvet wing.

The stars above, a sparkling silver rune, Guide weary souls through darkness deep and wide, While dreams take flight beneath the crescent's boon.

In silent reverie, the world does bide, As slumber's gentle touch caresses all, And in its embrace, worries set aside.

But morning breaks upon the eastern wall, With dawn's bright kiss, the day begins anew, And life awakes to heed the daylight's call.

Now here's one I tried composing, with a rhyming couplet at the end.

The morning sky has just turned blue, From the color of fiery red, The flowers have a pink hue. I got out of my bed, And opened my favourite book, As calmness surged in my head. The birds threw me a pleasant look, As I sat outside, Beneath the oak tree's nook. Everything here nature's laws do abide, Happiness flows untied.

Hmm...do you think Dante would be proud of my poem? Tell me in the comments.

Now it's time for you to compose your own! 😀

Comments

  1. Hmmmm I went through the blog but as soon my brain read the term poetry I got nervous and unable to understand. Nevertheless good writeup. 🙌

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