strambotto

verse form
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/art/strambotto
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Plural:
strambotti
Related Topics:
rispetto
verse

strambotto, one of the oldest Italian verse forms, composed of a single stanza of either six or eight hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) lines. Strambotti were particularly popular in Renaissance Sicily and Tuscany, and the origin of the form in either region is still uncertain. Variations of the eight-line strambotto include the Sicilian octave (ottava siciliana), with the rhyme scheme abababab; the ottava rima, with the typical rhyme scheme abababcc; and the rispetto, a Tuscan form usually with the rhyme scheme ababccdd or with ottava rima. Six-line variants usually rhyme ababab, ababcc, or aabbcc. The subject of the strambotto was generally love or, sometimes, satire.