VERSIFICATION. 



2d. Tiiftrophon 



I 



3 - 



3 - 



1 - 



2 - 



3 - 



rhyme tertian (aUefzala). 



etto 

 ente 

 ogno 



etto 

 ente 

 ogno 



Or, 



4 

 5 

 6 



4 

 5 

 6 



etto 

 ente 

 ogno 



ente 

 etto 

 ogno 



3d. Triftrophon : rhyme duplex. 



ate 



oria 



oria 



4 

 5 

 6 



oria 



ate 



ate 



7fel( 



feldom 

 fed. 



There is no eflential difference between the Italian and 

 French fonnet. In addition, however, to the above, they 

 al£b employ the following rhymes. 



4th. Triftrophon : rhyme tertian (a lamani^re Fran9ais). 



I - - ufe 4 - 



5 • 



2 - 



- ufe 



- net 



- eux 



- eux 



- erre 



eme 

 eme 

 net 



Or, 



4 

 5 

 6 



- crit 



- erre 



- crit 



We may, in the reading of poets, difcover other methods ; 

 but every feries differing from the above, is pronounced, by 

 the connoiffeurs, to be not " ad unguem." 



II. 0/the Ode Canzone, or Chan/on. 



The ode is a compofition formed of an indefinite number 

 of ftanzas, which, with refpeft to the rhyme and the meafure 

 of the verfe, are uniformly the fame to the conclufion of the 

 poem. We may except, however, thofe concluding ftanzas 

 which have been called conge (congedo, orcommiato), as if 

 the poet, by this concluding ftrophe, fhorter than the reft, 

 took his leave of the poem, or perfon to whom it is addreffed. 

 Our limits will not admit of examples. 



III. Of the Canzonetta. 



The canzonetta (chanfonette, or the Anacreontic ode) is 

 an imitation of the charafteriftic, the fimplicity, and the art- 

 lefs ftyle of the odes of Anacreon. Of this fpecies of com- 

 pofition, the celebrated Taffo was the inventor ; but the praife 

 is due to Chiabrcra for that acme of perfcaion to which he 



has advanced it. , r ., 



The canzonetta differs from the ode in the following par- 

 ticulars. , „ r 1 • u 



1. GencraUy, though not always, the ftan/as ot which 

 they are compofed are lefs, and contain a fmallcr number 



of verfes. , . ,._ ... 



2. The ftanzas confift of fmall verfes of different kinds. 

 n,. They are not adapted to that elevated and fubhmc 



ftyle which the ode requires. The cluraderiftic of their 

 ftyle (hould be fimple, artlefs, and familiar ; and they are, 

 therefore, very well fuited to what is of an agreeable and 

 humourous nature, to fables, and to allegories, of which the 

 fenfe or moral is ufually given at the clofc. 



The number of ftanzas of which the canzonetta conlills is 

 indefinite, at the difcretion of the poet. Tlie ftrophcs are 

 ufually compofed of four or fix verfes, in their meafure citlicr 

 mixed or uniform, but always agreeing together by the 

 clofeJ or allernaU rhyme. [Rime ferree ou alternee.) See 

 the table of rhyme under the Sonnet. Sometimes the ftanzas 

 contain ten verfes, and then, as well as when they have 



fix verfes, the two firft and the two laft fhould rhyme to- 

 gether. 



When the ftrophe contains verfes tronchi, piani, and 

 fdruccioli, we may perceive a difagreement in the rhyme. 

 But of whatever nature the firft ftanza may be, the fubfe- 

 quent ftanzas (hould ftriftly conform thereto. In lyric 

 poems, on the contrary, we arc at liberty to vary the ftanza, 

 pro re natd, as circumflances and the tafle and difcretion 

 of the poet may require. 



IV. The Sapphic Ode. 



This ode, of which the Grecian poetefs Sappho was the 

 inventrefs, is, when regular, compofed of feveral tetraftro- 

 phons, of which the three firft verfes are hendecafyllabic, 

 the laft a quinarius. Frcqueiuly, however, tlie feptenarius 

 is fubftituted for the quinarius ; in which cafe the ftrophe 

 has lefs elegance, and lefs conformity to the Grecian ori, 

 ginal, of which they ftiould be an exaft imitation. The 

 rhyme moft employed is the alternate or the clofed {alternee 

 or ferree). 



'Among the feveral forms of the French ode, the follow- 

 ing is much admired. The reader muft be content with a 

 fingle ftanza for illuftration ; our limits forbid more. 



Puiffantes Deites, qui peupler cette rive. 

 Preparer, leur dirais-je, une oreille attentive 



Au bruit de mes concerts. 

 PuifTent-ils amollir vos fuperbes courages 

 En faveur d'un Heros digne des premiers ages 

 Du naiftent Univers ! — Rouffeau. 



We are compelled, for want of appropriate epithets, to 

 borrow the following terms with which the Italians and the 

 French denominate certain ftrophes of their compofition. 



Terza i?ima.— This fpecies of compofition contains feveral 

 triftrophons, each confifting of three hendecafyllabic verfes. 

 The rhyme is connefted together in fuch a manner, that the 

 firft verfe of each ftanza agrees with the third, and the fecond 

 rhymes with the firft and the third of the ftanza following. 

 And this order is preferved to the end. 



There is no example of this fpecies of compofition in the 

 French language, for, by a tranfpofition of the verfes, they 

 convert the triftrophon into the tetraftrophon, and then call 

 the terza rima the 



Qjiarta Rima By the quarta rima, that fpecies of poem 



is denominated which contains feveral tetrallrophons, of 

 which each verfe is an hendecafyllabic in Italian, and an 

 Alexandrine in French : the rhyme is either ferree or al- 

 ternee. See table of rhyme under Sonnet, fupra. 



Sejla Rima et Oltava Rima — Compofitions of this kind 

 receive their name from the number of verfes of which their 

 ftanzas are compofed ; the former of fix, the latter of eight. 

 The two laft verfes agree together in rhyme (plate) '• f • "»■ 

 mixed; the reft in rhyme {alternee) alternate; fee table, 



fupra. n J J ■ I. 



Tlie French do not adhere to any regular ftandard in the 

 ccimpofition of the fefla rima, whicli they caU les fxains, ou 

 les fiances defix vers. r , t i- j 



But with regard to the " Otta-ua rima" of the Itahans, and 

 the " Stances de huil vers" of tlie French, there is, both aa 

 it refpcfts the rhyme and the nature of the verfe, winch in 

 either cafe is liendccafyllabic, a perfea fimilarity. 1 hi» 

 fpecies of compofition has prevailed much fincc the tunc ot 

 Thibaut, who hved a hundred years before Boccacc. 



V. The Madrigal and the Epigram. 

 The madrigal is a fmall poem confifting generally of not 

 lefs than fix nor more than twelve verfes, which are cither 

 oaonani, or more commonly feptcnani or hendecafyllabic. 

 O 2 •'° 



