Full Answer
What is the hendecasyllable in Italian poetry?
The hendecasyllable ( Italian: endecasillabo) is the principal metre in Italian poetry. Its defining feature is a constant stress on the tenth syllable, so that the number of syllables in the verse may vary, equaling eleven in the usual case where the final word is stressed on the penultimate syllable.
How many syllables are in a hendecasyllable?
Hendecasyllable. In poetry, a hendecasyllable is a line of eleven syllables. The term "hendecasyllabic" is used to refer to two different poetic meters, the older of which is quantitative and used chiefly in classical ( Ancient Greek and Latin) poetry and the newer of which is accentual and used in medieval and modern poetry.
Who is the greatest Polish poet?
The greatest Polish Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz, set his poem Grażyna in this measure. The Polish hendecasyllable is widely used when translating English blank verse . The eleven-syllable line is normally defined by primary stresses on the fourth and tenth syllables and a caesura after the fifth syllable.
Is it improper to use accents on a lesser hendecasyllable?
It is considered improper for the lesser hendecasyllable to use a word accented on its antepenultimate syllable ( parola sdrucciola) for its mid-line stress. A line like "Più non sfavìllano quegli òcchi néri", which delays the caesura until after the sixth syllable, is not considered a valid hendecasylable.
What is the first case of a hemistich?
The first case is called endecasillabo a minore, or lesser hendecasyllable, and has the first hemistich equivalent to a quinario; the second is called endecasillabo a maiore, or greater hendecasyllable, and has a settenario as the first hemistich.
Is 11/11/11/5 iambic?
Only rarely it is fully iambic. A popular form of Polish literature that employs the hendacasyllable is the Sapphic stanza: 11/11/11/5. The Polish hendecasyllable is often combined with an 8-syllable line: 11a/8b/11a/8b. Such a stanza was used by Mickiewicz in his ballads, as in the following example.
What is the simplest, commonest and most musical line?
A line in which accents fall consistently on even-numbered syllables ( "Al còr gentìl rempàira sèmpre amóre") is called iambic ( giambico) and may be a greater or lesser hendecasyllable. This line is the simplest, commonest and most musical but may become repetitive, especially in longer works.