Crossword clues for quatrain
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Quatrain \Quat"rain\, n. [F., fr. quatre four, L. quattuor,
quatuor. See Four.] (Pros.)
A stanza of four lines rhyming alternately.
--Dryden.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1580s, from Middle French quatrain "four-line stanza" (16c.), from Old French quatre "four," from Latin quattuor "four" (see four).
Wiktionary
n. 1 a poem in four lines 2 a stanza of four lines
WordNet
n. a stanza of four lines
Wikipedia
A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and China; and, continues into the 21st century, where it is seen in works published in many languages. During Europe's Dark Ages, in the Middle East and especially Iran, polymath poets such as Omar Khayyam continued to popularize this form of poetry, also known as Ruba'i, well beyond their borders and time. Michel de Nostredame ( Nostredomus) used the quatrain form to deliver his famous prophecies in the 16th century.
There are fifteen possible rhyme schemes, but the most traditional and common are: AAAA, ABAB, and ABBA.
Usage examples of "quatrain".
On her death in 1887 I wrote a quatrain for her memorial, and which those who knew her considered appropriate-- HELEN BRODIE SPENCE Born at Whittingham, Scotland, 1791.
With false whiskers on, it would serve up cold as a quatrain, doubling its producing value.
It was just on the top of that discouragement that the Duchess wanted me to write something in her album--something Persian, you know, and just a little bit decadent--and I thought a quatrain on an unwholesome egg would meet the requirements of the case.
I fancy I have perhaps more talent for electioneering than for poetry, and I was really getting extended over this quatrain business.
Chateaubriand, after a night of love, composed this quatrain, which may now be published--all the personages being dead.
The quatrain treating of this latter catastrophe is as fantastic as some of Dr.
Al-Nomani recited the litany and watched, determined to maintain the steady singsong of the nefarious quatrain no matter what happened.
The first twelve lines, arranged meaningfully in three four-line units or quatrains rhymed alternately in a pattern of abab, cdcd, efef, follow the course of the sun as it rises, shines brightly in mid-day, and then sets.
The mood through the first two quatrains is one of deep discouragement.
The speech begins with two quatrains, marked at the transitions by end punctuation.
Two Quatrains I Unity As eons of incalculable strife Are in the vision of one moment caught, So are the common, concrete things of life Divinely shadowed on the walls of Thought.
Numbers followed by an asterisk indicate those quatrains Sadiq Hedayat considered most likely to be doubtful products of Omar Khayyam.
The poet himself was aware of the fact at once, and stated it, perhaps not too modestly, in countless quatrains and couplets, which were not read, or, if read, were not much regarded at the moment.
It was a villanelle, smoothly accomplished except for a slip in scansion in the third line of the quatrain.
Pope, the majestic blank verse of Thomson, the terse octosyllabics of Swift, the sonorous quatrains of Gray, and the lively anapests of Sheridan and Moore.