Terza rima

Terza rima is a chain stanzaic form of tercets linked by a continuous "interlocking" rhyme according to the scheme aba bcb cdc…, where the middle line of each stanza sets the rhyme for the outer lines of the next. The chain concludes with a separate line rhyming with the middle line of the last tercet. Terza rima was created by Dante Alighieri for the "Divine Comedy," and since then it has become a symbol of majestic, continuously flowing epic-philosophical speech. The difficulty of the form lies in the constant "overflowing" of rhyme from stanza to stanza, which demands virtuoso versification technique. In Ukrainian poetry terza rima was mastered by translators and by authors of philosophical lyric oriented toward the high classical tradition.