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Terza rima


A type of poetry consisting of 10 or 11 syllable lines arranged in three-line “tercets”.
The poet Dante is credited with inventing terza rima and it has been used by many English poets including Chaucer, Milton, Shelley, and Auden.

"What is a Terza Rima Poem?"

A terza rima is an Italian form of poetry first used by Dante Alighieri.

A terza rima consists of stanzas of three lines (or tercets) usually in iambic pentameter. It follows an interlocking rhyming scheme, or chain rhyme. This is where the middle of each stanza rhymes with the first and last line of the following stanza. There is no set length to this form, as long as it follows the pattern as follows:

ABA
BCB
CDC
DED

With the last stanza as a couplet rhyming with the middle line of the previous stanza. In this case, EE.

An example of a Terza Rima Poem

Spring

(A) New life begins to spring to life in spring
(B) Green shoots appear in the April showers
(A) Birds migrate back home and rest tired wings

(B) Summer brings green fields full of bright flowers
(C) Paddling pools and ice creams all around
(B) The sun shines fiercely with all its powers

(C) Autumn sends leaves tumbling to the ground
(D) The sun sinks lower leaving longer nights
(C) Conkers and acorns waiting to be found

(D) Winter is a time for Halloween frights
(E) Snow on the ground and Jack Frost's ache
(D) Celebrations filled with festive delights

(E) As winter ends the new year starts to make
(E) New life begins to spring to life and awake.

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