Practice question · True or false
The English sonnet uses more distinct rhyme sounds than the Italian because English has fewer rhyming words available.
Hints
- Ask why a form would need more rhyme sounds rather than fewer.
- Fewer sounds means more lines per sound, which is harder in a rhyme-poor language.
Show the answer
True
Why
True. Fewer rhyme sounds means more lines sharing each one. Italian verbs and adjectives share endings, so four sounds over fourteen lines is easy; English has no such supply, so the form spread the load over seven sounds with at most two lines each.
Practise Poetic Traditions II: the Sonnet and the Golden Age
The app has 3 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Literature I is free to start.
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