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CANZONE
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CANZONE , a See also:form of See also:verse which has reached us from See also:Italian literature, where from the earliest times it has been assiduously cultivated. The word is derived from the Provencal cansd, a See also:song, but it was in Italian first that the form became a See also:literary one, and was dedicated to the highest uses of See also:poetry. The canzone-See also:strophe consists of two parts, the opening one being distinguished by See also:Dante as the fronte, the closing one as the sirma. These parts are connected by See also:rhyme, it being usual to make the rhyme of the last See also:line of the fronte identical with that of the first line of the sirma. In other respects the canzone has See also:great See also:liberty, as regards number and length of lines, arrangement of rhymes and conduct of structure. An examination of the best Italian See also:models, however, shows that the tendency of the canzone-strophe is to possess 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 or 16 verses, and that of these the strophe of 14 verses is so far the most frequent that it may almost be taken as the type. In this form it resembles an irregular See also:sonnet. The Vita Nuova contains many examples of the canzone, and these are accompanied by so many explanations of their form as to See also:lead us to believe that the canzone was originally invented or adopted by Dante. The following is the proemio or fronte of one of the most celebrated canzoni in the Vita Nuova (which may be studied in See also:English in Dante See also:Gabriel See also:Rossetti's See also:translation) :
" Donna pietosa e di novella etate,
Adorna assai di gentilezza umane,
Era la ov' io chiamava spesso Morte.
Veggendo gli oc hi miei pien di pietate,
Ed ascoltando le See also:parole See also:vane,
Si mosse See also:con paura a pianger forte;
Ed altro See also:donne, che si furo accorte
Di me per quella che meco piangfa,
Fecer lei partir via
Ed apprissarsi per farmi sentire.
Quel dicea: ' Non dormire ' ;
E qual dicea: See also:Perche si to sconforte?'
Allor lasciai la nuova See also:fantasia,
Chiamando it See also:nome della donna mia."
The Canzoniere of See also:Petrarch is of great authority as to the form of this See also:species of verse. In See also:England the canzone was introduced at the end of the sixteenth See also:century by See also: In See also:German poetry it was cultivated by A. W. von See also:Schlegel and other poets of the Romantic See also:period. It is doubtful, however, whether it is in agreement with the See also:genius of any See also:language but Italian, and whether the genuine " Canzone toscana " is a form which can be reproduced elsewhere than in See also:Italy. (E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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