sestina

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“
The sestina is an old poetic form invented by the troubadors; each of the thirty-nine lines ends with one of only six words, which gives the sestina a haunting, constricted feel.

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Definitions (2)

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  1. noun A verse form first used by the Provençal troubadours, consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in varied order as end words in the other stanzas and also recur in the envoy.

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Examples (37)

  • The first thing you learn is that the screenplay is a really difficult form to master—it's like mastering the haiku, or the sestina. —  Strange Horizons Aug '01
  • Vampire Sestina My only successful sestina (a verse form in which the last word of each of the first six lines repeat in ever-changing sequence over the next verses and in one three-line endpiece). —  Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman.
  • The sestina only repeats words, but in a fixed six stanza form which can be quite intimidating. —  PoeWar
  • The sestina has six stanzas, each comprising six unrhymed lines, in which the words at the end of the first stanza's lines reappear in a rolling pattern in the other stanzas. —  LearnHub Activities
  • There were 3 readers: Marcus read from a selection of his in-print and his soon to be in print poems, including a variation on a sestina that starts, ... —  GotPoetry.com News
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian, from sesto, sixth, from Latin sextus; see s(w)eks in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian: see sestine.
 

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/sɛsˈtinə/
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