Terzanelle

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A terzanelle is a poetry form which is a combination of the villanelle and the terza rima. It is nineteen lines total, with five triplets and a concluding quatrain. The rhyme scheme is as follows, with bracketed letters representing individual rhymes:

Verse 1 (a)

Verse 2 (b)

Verse 3 (a)

Verse 4 (b)

Verse 5 (c)

Verse 2 (b)

Verse 6 (c)

Verse 7 (d)

Verse 5 (c)

Verse 8 (d)

Verse 9 (e)

Verse 7 (d)

Verse 10 (e)

Verse 11 (f)

Verse 9 (e)

-Ending Type 1:

Verse 12 (f)

Verse 1 (a)

Verse 11 (f)

Verse 3 (a)

-Ending Type 2:

Verse 12 (f)

Verse 11 (f)

Verse 1 (a)

Verse 3 (a)

Alternately, for those familiar with capital-letter rhyme notation:

ABA'

bCB

cDC

dED

eFE

Ending Type 1:

fAFA'

Ending Type 2:

fFAA'

[edit] Examples

Below are examples of terzanelles that can be read online. These poems have different aesthetics and are not largely equal, but are all good representations of the use of the terzanelle form.

• Terzanelle for the Burghers of Calais by Laverne Frith
• Terzanelle in Thunderweather by Lewis Turco, with a further explanation of the form
• Terzanelle in Kosovo Fields by Richard Jackson
• Terzanelle at Twilight by Aparna Raghunath