The term stanza was originally used synonymously to the concept of the strophe, but then meant exclusively the Okatve, also Ottaverime, an Italian stanza form. This Italian stanza consists of eight Iambian lines, all of which are made of eleven silver, the so-called Endecasillabi, with a female cadence. Most of the time the punch follows the rhyme scheme / cc, although forms with aabccbdd are common as well as other types of games are conceivable. The German form of the punch is usually based on the five-legged jubilee, the last rhyme pair, often a break in content, as in the sonnet, or as a synthesis the crowning conclusion.
The term is derived from the Italian noun stanza, which can be translated as whereabouts, rooms, but also with stanzas. Thus the translation refers primarily to the original meaning of the word when it refers generally to the verse or a kind of rhyming building. However, the essential characteristics of the text location can not be recognized here. The following is a German example:
a
b
a
b
a
b
c
c
In the darkness of the year will light tend;
Life’s hot embers, she returns
In eighteen hours’ fire; it is silent,
The one who kindles them, the songs in the grove;
Love flees, and coldly relieves the branches
Dulled foliage, the flower decoration sinks.
The heart dies, the veins are closed,
In which flourish and strength are freshly poured.
The selected example is the first stanza of the poem rebirth of Johann Wilhelm Süvern, a reformer of Prussian school legislation, but also politicians and poets. In the above extract the characteristics of the punch are shown. Thus he consists of eight verses, each of which has 11 syllables, with unaccented and emphasized syllables alternating, thus alternating, and iambic. There are 5 heights per verse.
Furthermore, this stanza follows the typical rhyming scheme abababcc. Their first rhymes alternate, so they alternate, while the last two verses are arranged in pairs. In addition, the last one line is followed by a further, but unaccented, syllable, which ends the verses with a feminine conclusion, a female cadence. This is exactly the same as the Italian model.
Further, the last two lines may be considered a sort of summary (synthesis). After all, the lines are preceded by death; of the life that creeps back into the lap, which passes away, although it has just come into being. The last two verses bring this back to the point when they show that the fresh power now dies and the veins, which were still open, are closed.
This means that the verse is a stanza, because it has eight eleven-syllable verses, the verses of which are feminine. However, the fact that the extract follows the rhyme scheme abababcc is indeed typical, but it is not a necessary prerequisite to be a punch. Likewise the pointed, summarizing or even increasing end is not a must, even if it is often used in stamping.
Spenser-punch (Spenserstrophe)
The Spenserstanz, also called Spenserstrophe, is a further development of the Italian stanza. It is named after Edmund Spenser, an English poet of the 16th century, who is regarded as a model of William Shakespeare. It enriches the Italian model, but was not incorporated into the German poetry and exists in this almost only in translations.
The Spenserstanze expands the Italian stanza by a further, ninth, line, which, unlike the previous five-man, is six-edged and also characterized by a central cascade. The caesura means a metric incision, which is perceived as a brief pause. Thus, this additional line resembles the Alexandrian. The rhyme scheme is ababbcbcc. Let’s look at an example:
a
b
a
b
b
c
b
c
c
Soone as the morrow fair with purple beames
Disperst the shadow of the misty night,
And Titan, playing on the eastern streames,
Gan cleare the deawy aire with springing light,
Sir Guyon mindfull of his vow yplight,
Vprose from drowsy couch, and him addrest
Vnto the i journey which he had behight:
His puissaunt armes about his noble brest,
And many-folded shield.
This example Spenserstanze is a stanza from the poem The Faerie Queene, which is probably Spenser’s most important contribution to English poetry. It is a text that sought the favor of the queen and made an allegory of Christianity. In contrast to the punch, as presented in the previous article, three things are striking.
Here the typical rhyme scheme is broken up (not ababab but ababbcbcc), the pair rhyme being already indicated in the sixth verse. Furthermore, both male and female cadences are possible, the last, additional verse having six lobes. Usually the last rhyme is stressed in a spenser (here: brest), even if there are deviations.
History of the punch
The stanza predominantly dominated the classical Italian epic, but soon became popular with lyricism and drama. From then on, she has appeared throughout the various literary disciplines, and is documented in the 21st century, also in the German-speaking world (partly with modifications).
Already in the 13th century the stanza form can be found. Here she is mostly used to portray religious themes and is used, for example, by Giovanni Boccaccio, a poet, writer and democrat of the 14th century. For example, the stanza can be found in Teseida, an epic in punching. The form is then also adapted by Ludovico Ariosto or Matteo Maria Boiardo.
Above all, the stanza is one of the preferred forms in the Romance languages and developed into the epic poem, especially in the high Renaissance. But then also in lyricism and drama. It is written in Torquato Tasso, an Italian poet of the 16th century, whose most famous work is the La Gerusalemme liberata (The Liberated Jerusalem) epic.
In the English-speaking world it is then – in addition to Edmund Spenser, who expanded the stanza in the Spenserstrophe – above all William Butler Yeats or also George Gordon Byron where punching can be found. But also works by Thomas Wyatt and Robert Browning point to this stanza form.
In Germany, the stamping is not so fast, which is why it can only be found in translations of English or Italian texts. However, it is already very early in this form. For example, it is found in Diederich of the Werder, who in the 17th century made a translation of Tasso’s Liberated Jerusalem and received the original stanza form.
However, there are also testimonials in the field of stamping in Germany. However, this can only be observed over the entire eighteenth century. For example, Goethe’s epilogue was written in Schiller’s bell in stanzas. It is also found in Ernst Schulzes (1789-1817) Versepos The enchanted rose.
In later versions, the rhyming scheme of this stanza, which was partly quite free, is often varied. Nevertheless, Rainer Maria Rilke, for example, can find punching machines that are based on the original Italian form, such as in his winter stamping, which was created at the beginning of the 20th century. Liliencron’s Poggfred (1896) is also characterized by stamping.
Short overview: The most important facts about the punch
The stanza is an Italian stanza form. It consists of eight Iambian lines, each of which is composed of eleven syllables and has a female cadence. In most cases, the stanza follows the rhyme scheme / cc, although other forms are also common.
In the Romance languages, it is the most common form of the epic, which is typical of the Renaissance. Nevertheless she was used early in lyric and drama.
In Germany the stanza first appears mainly in translations of English and also Italian works and does not become a typical pattern. Nevertheless, stamping can also be found in the German-speaking area, especially from the 18th century.
Note: There are numerous forms of stanzas that are related to, or are related to, the stanza. Examples are the Spenserstanze, the Siciliane or the Nonarime.