Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SESTETT

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 702 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

SESTETT , the name given to the second See also:

division of a See also:sonnet, which must consist of an See also:octave, of eight lines, succeeded by a sestett, of six lines. In the usual course the rhymes are arranged See also:abc abc, but this is not necessary. See also:Early See also:Italian sonnets, and in particular those of See also:Dante, often See also:close with the See also:rhyme-arrangement abc cba; but in See also:languages. where the sonority of syllables is not so See also:great as it is in Italian, it is dangerous to leave a See also:period of five lines between one rhyme and another. In the See also:quatorzain, there is properly speaking no sestett, but a See also:quatrain followed by a See also:couplet, as in the See also:case of See also:Shakespeare's so-called " Sonnets." Another See also:form of sestett has only two rhymes, ab ab ~ ab; as is the case in See also:Gray's famous sonnet " On the See also:Death of See also:Richard See also:West." The sestett should See also:mark the turn of emotion in the sonnet; as a See also:rule it may be said. that the octave having been more or less See also:objective, in the sestett reflection should make its See also:appearance, with a tendency to the subjective manner. For example, in See also:Matthew See also:Arnold's ingenious " The Better See also:Part," the rough inquirer, who has had his own way in the octave, is replied to as soon as the sestett com- mences:- " So answerest See also:thou ? But why not rather say: Hath See also:Man no second See also:life ? See also:Pitch this one high. More strictly, then, the inward See also:judge obey l Was See also:Christ a man like us? Ah l let us try If we, then, too, can be such men as he l ' " See also:Wordsworth and See also:Milton are both remarkable for the dignity with which they conduct the downward See also:wave of the sestett in their sonnet. The See also:French sonneteers of the 16th See also:century, with See also:Ronsard at their See also:head, preferred the softer See also:sound of the arrangement aab ccb I. The See also:German poets have usually wavered between the See also:English and the Italian forms.

End of Article: SESTETT

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SESSA AURUNCA 		[next]
SESTINA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries