Sestina

by S. L. P. Van der Veer

Summer 2003

This issue we’re looking at the sestina, a French form generally credited to Arnaut Daniel (d. ~1210). It is one of a group of forms called the trobar clus, which are complex closed forms (as opposed to the trobar leu, which are easier and more open forms). Such forms were utilized by the medieval troubadours, whose name is derived from trobar, meaning “to find, invent, compose verse”.

The sestina was well-received in southern France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Among the Italian proponents were Dante and Petrarch. In the 17 th century, German poets began using the sestina, and the form enjoyed a revival in the 19 th century, thanks in part to Swinburne.

Originally a syllabic form, as with most forms when used in English, the sestina is often in iambic pentameter (10 syllables). In French, the lines tend to be alexandrine (12 syllables); in Italian, they are hendecasyllabic (11 syllables).

It is a 39 line form, divided into 7 stanzas: six sestets (6 lines), and an envoy, or tornada, of 3 lines. The sestina is typically not a rhyming form, although some poets (Swinburne among them) did develop rhymed versions. Instead, the sestina uses the same six words, rotating in a prescribed pattern, to end the lines of each sestina. The envoy contains all six words - three at the ends and three within the lines.

Numbering the end-words of the first stanza, the pattern of end-word rotation is as follows:

• Stanza 1—1 2 3 4 5 6
• Stanza 2—6 1 5 2 4 3
• Stanza 3—3 6 4 1 2 5
• Stanza 4—5 3 2 6 1 4
• Stanza 5—4 5 1 3 6 2
• Stanza 6—2 4 6 5 3 1
• Envoy 7—2-5, 4-3, 6-1 (the first number of each pair is the mid-line word; the second is the end-word)
• This type of recurrent pattern is called lexical repetition.

Ideally, the end-words form a natural rhetorical set revolving around a common idea. In some sestinas, the first 5 words suggest facets of a theme while the sixth sums them up.

One method of writing a sestina is to select the six end-words first, and build from there. It is suggested that the end-words be concrete nouns or active verbs, as such words will offer the greatest options for varying the lines. One of the websites listed below has a page to assist in the process, wherein if you input the six end-words, it will show you the order in which they will appear in the succeeding stanzas.

The End of Farewell

by S. L. P. Van der Veer

 

The sun sinks low ~ speak a tale of farewell,

of the call of the road and the music of stars,

of magic and grace and sheer joy’s own song.

Give words to a night mistook for a dream ~

a dream of love reaching the depths of the soul,

and light drunk from the goblet of her eyes.

 

The truth of the day is there in her eyes ~

the heart grieves at each speaking of ‘farewell’.

To leave her for the journey tears the soul.

Even knowing, still we wished on the stars,

as if it could make parting but a dream

and our hearts light enough to join the song.

 

The others spend the night in dance and song.

I find solace in the depths of her eyes ~

eyes I once thought merely the stuff of dreams

and, once found, thought to never say farewell.

Some knowledge is not given by the stars.

Some answers are found only in the soul.

 

Still, this journey is for more than my soul.

It is for her, and all held in the Song,

for sun on the water and nights of stars ~

stars that dance when she looks into my eyes….

How did that perfection turn to farewell?

That I might hold Perfection turns to dream….

 

The unkind world parts me from my dream.

Bitter words of kings have sundered my soul;

the vengeance of kings has wrought this farewell.

There is a melancholy in the song

a quiet sorrow reflects in her eyes

solemn resolve strengthens by the night’s stars

 

I take comfort that she sees these same stars

and send her thoughts of love in every dream,

for every dream is haunted by her eyes.

I can feel her heart beating in my soul;

I can hear her sweet voice within the song

and know it shall not say again ‘farewell’.

 

What is known to stars is found in the soul.

What is found in dream is part of the Song.

What shines in her eyes is the end of farewell.

For Additional Information

Auden, W.H. “Paysage moralise”, and Kairos and Logos cycle.

Kipling, Rudyard. “Sestina of the Tramp Royal”.

Pound, Ezra. “Sestina: Altaforte”

Swinburne, Algernon Charles. “Sestina” (’I saw my soul at rest upon a day‘)

Swinburne, Algernon Charles. “The Complaint of Lisa” - a double sestina of 12 12-line stanzas

eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2101.html (Swinburne)

www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/sestina.htm

www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofverse/reports2000/page9.html

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