The rhyme rich Italian language was, and is, well suited to the demands of the terza rima. The same cannot be said of English language, however; our language has far greater lexical purposes, but is rhyme poor in the scope of the terza rima. Rhyming in English often turns out comic and obtrusive on this scale; sounding more like chiming and losing the drive that the Italian rhyme schemes have.
With its seemingly endless blend of apparently marching forward while glancing back, it often gives almost the feel and energy that waltz time imparts to music.
Modern poets and translators such as Robert Pinsky have taken the step of using rhyme where they can, and slant rhyme where they can’t.
A Short History of the Terza Rima
The first known use of the terza rima was in Dante’s Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy). In creating the form, Dante may have been influenced by the sirventes, a lyric form used by the Provencal troubadours. It is thought by some scholars that the three line pattern may have been intended to suggest the Holy Trinity. Inspired by Dante, other Italian poets began using the form; including Petrarch and Boccaccio.
The first English poet to write in terza rima was Geoffrey Chaucer, who used it for his Complaint to His Lady. Terza rima has also been used by Milton, Byron, and Shelley. Thomas Hardy used the form of meter in “Friends Beyond” to interlink the characters and continue the flow of the poem.
The Terza Rima in the Twentieth Century
A number of twentieth century poets have also employed the form; among them Archibald Macleish, W. H. Auden, Andrew Cannon, William Carlos Williams, T. S. Eliot, Derek Walcott, Clark Ashton Smith, James Merrill, Robert Frost, and Richard Wilbur; to name but a few.
Not surprisingly, the form has also been used in translations of Dante’s work, most notably Robert Pinsky’s translation of Inferno, and Laurence Binyon’s version of the entire Divina Commedia.
An Example of the Terza Rima
Acquainted With the Night by Robert Frost
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-bye;
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.
How to Write a Terza Rima Yourself
The famed Mr. Frost achieved some thing you may find rather difficult yourself when you attempt a terza rima; namely, he managed to make it rhyme perfectly. As noted before, the paucity of rhyme in the English language makes this quite difficult, particularly if you write a very long terza rima.
My best advice to you is to start with shorter rhymes; perhaps three or four tercets with a closing couplet at the end. If you need to, make use of slant rhymes; that is, words that sound somewhat alike but do not rhyme perfectly. You will not be faulty to do so, in modern literature slant rhymes are now widely accepted.
The rhyme scheme to follow is aba, bcb, cdc, ded, ee; with the ee being the rhyming couplet at the end. Though we stop at four tercets in this example, please feel free to write as many as your heart desires, or until your fingers fall off, whichever happens first. Iambic Pentameter is the meter of choice, although there have been several written in tetrameter as well.
Whatever you do, don't give up; keep on writing and trying. You will write a good terza rima before you know it, and it long will be a source of pride and enjoyment for you.
Poetic Form: Terza Rima – poets.org
The World of Dante – collaboration
Robert Pinsky – the poetry foundation
Robert Frost – Poems and Autobiography
Brazos Mason - If it's about golf or poetry, I'm your guy! I have numerous golf articles and over 1000 poems published.
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