Verse form consisting of tercets, or three-line stanzas, in which the second line of each rhymes with the first and third lines of the next. The series ends with a separate line that rhymes with the second line of the last stanza, so that the rhyme scheme is aba, bcb, cdc, ..., yzy, z. Dante, in The Divine Comedy ( 1310-14), was the first to use terza rima in a long poem. A demanding form, it has not been widely adopted in languages less rich in rhymes than Italian. It was introduced into England by Thomas Wyat in the 16th century. Poets who have experimented with terza rima include Percy B. Shelley, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and W.H. Auden; Derek Walcott's book-length Omeros is written in modified terza rima
A verse form consisting of tercets, usually in iambic pentameter in English poetry, with a chain or interlocking rhyme scheme, as: aba, bcb, cdc, etc The pattern concludes with a separate line added at the end of the poem (or each part) rhyming with the second line of the preceding tercet or with a rhyming couplet, as in Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind " Sidelight: The rhyme sound which carries from the middle line of each tercet to the opening line of the next tercet provides a strong sense of forward movement to the terza rima
Tercets or groups of three poetic lines with interlocking rhymes: aba, bcb, cdc, etc The form was employed by Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy
A peculiar and complicated system of versification, borrowed by the early Italian poets from the Troubadours
a verse form consisting of three-line stanzas in which the second line of each rhymes with the first and third of the next Close Window
an Italian stanzaic form, used by Dante in his Divina Commedia, consisting of tercets with interwoven rhymes, aba bcb dcd efe and a concluding couplet rhyming with the penultimate line of the last tercet The original Italian form was iambic pentameter, plus one syllable Examples in English are Sir Thomas Wyatt's "Of the Mean and the Sure Estate Written to John Poins," Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," and Robert Browning's "The Statue and the Bust "
A type of poetry consisting of 10- or 11-syllable lines arranged in three-line tercets with the rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc, etc The poet Dante is credited with inventing terza rima, which he used in his Divine Comedy Terza rima was borrowed into English by Chaucer, and it has been used by many English poets, including Milton, Shelley, and Auden
A three-line stanza form with interlocking rhymes that move from one stanza to the next The typical pattern is ABA, BCB, CDC, DED, and so on Dante chose terza rima's tripartite structure as the basic poetic unit of his trilogy, The Divine Comedy
An interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: aba, bcb, cdc, ded, and so on Dantes The Divine Comedy and Frosts "Acquainted with the Night" are written in terza rima See also rhyme, tercet