See Also: terza rima(encyclopedia)
terza rima(dictionary)
rima(dictionary)
rima(medicine)
ottava rima(encyclopedia)
ottava rima(dictionary)
rima vulvae(medicine)
rima vocalis(medicine)
rima vestibuli(medicine)
rima respiratoria(medicine)

terza rima (sh)




Verse form consisting of tercets, or three-line stanzas, in which the second line of each rhymes with the first and third lines of the next.

The series ends with a separate line that rhymes with the second line of the last stanza, so that the rhyme scheme is aba, bcb, cdc, ..., yzy, z. Dante, in The Divine Comedy (งใ 1310-14), was the first to use terza rima in a long poem. A demanding form, it has not been widely adopted in languages less rich in rhymes than Italian. It was introduced into England by Thomas Wyat in the 16th century. Poets who have experimented with terza rima include Percy B. Shelley, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and W.H. Auden; Derek Walcott's book-length Omeros is written in modified terza rima.