Metrical structure of the European sonnet
-
Jean-Louis Aroui
Abstract
In the Italian sonnet, the rhyme schemes (abba, abba, cde, cde) and (abba, abba, cdc, dcd) can be analysed as the concatenation of an octave and a sestet. Without this bipartite structure, the Italian sonnet would be too complex to be perceptible. The French sonnet, with its usual forms (abba, abba, ccd, eed) and (abba, abba, ccd, ede), respects this division into two parts. Both in Italian and in French, the internal structure of the sonnet seems to be characterised by a branching form. Nevertheless, it is shown that the rhyme schemes (cdc, dcd) and (ccd, ede) include discontinuous constituents, thus the branching structure of the sonnet is quite different from those usually described in linguistics. In the English tradition, the Spenserian sonnet (abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee) and the Shakespearian sonnet (abab, cdcd, efef, gg) are not easily analysed as being formed by an octave and a sestet. It must be admitted that from a perceptual point of view, they are something entirely different: the fact they are labelled as “sonnets”, and hence seen as related to the Italian sonnet, seems to be due mainly to historical reasons and cultural conventions.
Abstract
In the Italian sonnet, the rhyme schemes (abba, abba, cde, cde) and (abba, abba, cdc, dcd) can be analysed as the concatenation of an octave and a sestet. Without this bipartite structure, the Italian sonnet would be too complex to be perceptible. The French sonnet, with its usual forms (abba, abba, ccd, eed) and (abba, abba, ccd, ede), respects this division into two parts. Both in Italian and in French, the internal structure of the sonnet seems to be characterised by a branching form. Nevertheless, it is shown that the rhyme schemes (cdc, dcd) and (ccd, ede) include discontinuous constituents, thus the branching structure of the sonnet is quite different from those usually described in linguistics. In the English tradition, the Spenserian sonnet (abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee) and the Shakespearian sonnet (abab, cdcd, efef, gg) are not easily analysed as being formed by an octave and a sestet. It must be admitted that from a perceptual point of view, they are something entirely different: the fact they are labelled as “sonnets”, and hence seen as related to the Italian sonnet, seems to be due mainly to historical reasons and cultural conventions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgments xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Isochronous metrics
- Textsetting as constraint conflict 43
- Comparing musical textsetting in French and in English songs 63
- Bavarian Zwiefache 79
- Natural Versification in French and German counting-out rhymes 101
- Minimal chronometric forms 123
- Symmetry and children’s poetry in sign languages 143
-
Part II. Prosodic metrics
- Pairs and triplets 167
- Generative linguistics and Arabic metrics 193
- On the meter of Middle English alliterative verse 209
- The Russian Auden and the Russianness of Auden 229
- Towards a universal definition of the caesura 247
- Metrical alignment 267
- Rephrasing line-end restrictions 287
-
Part III. Para-metrical phenomena
- Pif paf poof 307
- The phonology of elision and metrical figures in Italian versification 325
-
Part IV. Macrostructural metrics
- Convention and parody in the rhyming of Tristan Corbière 337
- The metrics of Sephardic song 355
- A rule of metrical uniformity in old Hungarian poetry 371
- Metrical structure of the European sonnet 385
- Persons index 403
- Languages index 411
- Subjects index 415
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgments xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Isochronous metrics
- Textsetting as constraint conflict 43
- Comparing musical textsetting in French and in English songs 63
- Bavarian Zwiefache 79
- Natural Versification in French and German counting-out rhymes 101
- Minimal chronometric forms 123
- Symmetry and children’s poetry in sign languages 143
-
Part II. Prosodic metrics
- Pairs and triplets 167
- Generative linguistics and Arabic metrics 193
- On the meter of Middle English alliterative verse 209
- The Russian Auden and the Russianness of Auden 229
- Towards a universal definition of the caesura 247
- Metrical alignment 267
- Rephrasing line-end restrictions 287
-
Part III. Para-metrical phenomena
- Pif paf poof 307
- The phonology of elision and metrical figures in Italian versification 325
-
Part IV. Macrostructural metrics
- Convention and parody in the rhyming of Tristan Corbière 337
- The metrics of Sephardic song 355
- A rule of metrical uniformity in old Hungarian poetry 371
- Metrical structure of the European sonnet 385
- Persons index 403
- Languages index 411
- Subjects index 415
