Stornello Poem Type (Simply Explained & Examples)

Stornello Poem Type

The stornello is an Italian verse form dating back to at least the 15th century. The most common modern interpretations list it as a tercet form in which all three lines rhyme, with hendecasyllabic lines. There are other interpretations of the form from older time periods, including a couplet form still seen in Sicily today.

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Rispetto Poem Type (Simply Explained & Examples)

Rispetto Poem Type

The rispetto is a 15th century Italian verse form based around two rhyming quatrains. It usually has a rhyme scheme of abab ccdd, though the second verse can vary a bit. The most defining feature of the rispetto is that it is always a poem expressing respect. In fact the name, rispetto, literally means “respect.”

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Italian Octave Poem Type (Simply Explained & Examples)

Italian Octave Poem Type

The Italian octave is a poem with the same structural requirements as the first eight lines of an Italian/Petrarchan sonnet. This means it will have eight lines in Iambic pentameter with an ABBAABBA rhyme scheme. It is unknown which of these two forms came first. (The sonnet or the octave.)

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Barzelletta Poem Type

Barzelletta was a popular verse form utilized by Italian frottola composers, intended to entertain audiences with wit and rhythm, that has only rarely been applied to poetry outside of music. It is a subgenre of the frottola, a type of music that preceded the madrigal as a popular form of Italian secular music.

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