Quatrain

A four lines (also quartet , Quartine , Quatrain or rarely Tetra tihon is) in the Verslehre one of four verses existing Strophen- or a poem .

With its numerous special forms, the quatrain is the most common stanza form. The four-line rhyme schemes are therefore all very common. The three most important are the pair rhymes [aabb], the rhyme of the cross [abab]and the embracing rhyme [abba]. In the case of the stanza forms created by dividing two long lines into four lines of verse, the corresponding scheme is[xaxa]therefore also often. Here correspond to the two orphan lines (x) the rhyming anterior of the long line and the rhyming pair of the second and fourth verse the rhymed abverse . Often there is a change or ambivalence in the same form[xaxa] and rhyme of the cross [abab]. Rhymeless forms are rarer[xxxx] and forms with the same rhyme [aaaa].

Specific forms are:

• in ancient Greek poetry the various forms of the Asclepiadean stanza , as well as the glyconic and the sapphic stanza ,
• in the Latin poetry of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the Ambrosian hymn stanza and the pair rhyming strophe ,
• in Celtic poetry the Welsh forms Awdl-gywydd , Byr-a-thoddaid and Toddaid , as well as the Irish forms Ae Freislighe , Casbairdne , Deibhidhe , Freislighe , Rionnaird-tri-nard , Séadna and Sneadhbhairdne ,
• in the English poetry Chevy Chase verse and Common measure ,
• in the French poetry Contrerime ,
• in Spanish poetry Redondilla and
• in the Persian poetry Rubāʿī .

In Middle High German poetry, the Reimpaarstrophe and Otfridstrophe and as regional forms in southern Germany and Austria Gstanzl and Schnaderhüpfel are to be mentioned .

Quatrains in German poetry

As I said, the quatrain is the most common stanza form in German: both in terms of the various sub-forms and in terms of the number of poems. Of the forms listed by Frank, 42% are four-line, and of the poems examined are 60%. Frank deals with 126 different shapes and Schlawe lists 1205 metric variants. In order to provide a certain overview in this variety of forms, these are first differentiated according to the number of elevations . With regard to the relative frequencies, taking into account the frequency of the respective forms, the following picture emerges:

Lifts	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th
Frequency (%)	2.3	21.9	50.3	21.4	3.6	0.1	0.4

As you can see, the distribution is very uneven. While half of all quatrains are four-lettered and one fifth three- or five-lettered, only every thousandth is seven-lettered.

The following rhyme schemes dominate:

• the rhyme form derived from the long line xaxa and rhyme of the cross abab (41.7%),
• followed by the pair rhyme aabb, whereby a connection that goes beyond the rhyme is required, otherwise the quatrain breaks up into two pairs of rhymes (31.9%), and finally
• the embracing rhyme degrad, to be found less often and more in art poetry (20.9%).

The consistent rhyme is even rarer aaaa (1.1%) and the rhyming quatrain xxxx(4.4%). The group of rhymed quatrains also includes the replicas of ancient forms such as something from the Sapphic stanza.

In the following, the most common forms of stanzas will be grouped according to the number of lifts they are used to show:

Two lifters

Two-letter quatrains are relatively rare overall and also show through the rhyme scheme abab / xaxaalmost all of their proximity to the long line, which in one of the more common forms is also made clear by the continuation of the dactylic rhythm beyond the dispatch. So several times with Brentano , as an example:

The lament, it does not wake up the dead, Love only covers the curtain for you. [...]

◡ — ◡◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡◡— ◡ — ◡◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡◡—

Three lifter

The three-letter quatrains include the second most common German stanza form after Frank, made of cross-rhymed iambic three-letter clauses with an alternating female and male closure. A well-known example is Wilhelm Müller's Am Brunnen vor dem Tore :

At the well in front of the gate There is a linden tree: In its shadow I dream so many sweet dreams. [...]

◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡ — ◡— ◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡ — ◡—

Another very well-known example of the shape is It was a king in Thule by Goethe :

There was a king in Thule,
loyal to the grave,
To whom his lover gave
a golden cup when he was dying . [...]

Historically, this form can be derived from Hildebrandston and Heunenweise .

The trochaic analogue with alternating cadence and cross rhyme

—◡ — ◡ — ◡

—◡ — ◡—

—◡ — ◡ — ◡

—◡ — ◡—

is the scheme of some well-known newer (children's) songs, such as Alle Meine Entchen and Spannenlanger Hansel , but overall much rarer than the quatrain with iambic three-lifter. The form only became somewhat popular through the song by the boy Walter in the first scene of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell :

With the arrow, the bow
Through the mountains and the valley
the Schütz comes pulled
Early in the morning ray.

Other, rarer variants of the iambic form are:

Quatrains with, conversely, first male and then female cadence and cross rhyme	Quatrains from akatalectic three-headers with a consistently male closure, mostly with cross rhyme	Quatrains made from hypercatalectic three-lifter with a female closure throughout
◡ — ◡ — ◡— ◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡ — ◡— ◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡	◡ — ◡ — ◡— ◡ — ◡ — ◡— ◡ — ◡ — ◡— ◡ — ◡ — ◡—	◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡ ◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡
Justinus Kerner Longing ; Friedrich Hebbel winter trip	Eduard Mörike early in the car	with pair rhyme: Paul Gerhardt Wake up, my heart, and sing ; with cross rhyme: Theodor Storm We sat in front of the sun

Four lifters

The most common German form of stanzas is the quatrain made up of complete iambic four-pointers with pair rhymes:

◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡—

◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡—

◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡—

◡ — ◡ — ◡ — ◡—

According to Frank, the apparent dominance of this simple form is primarily based on its popularity in the early modern period, with almost 25% for the period before 1600 and then steadily falling with around 2-3% in the period after 1830. The form is derived from the late antique Ambrosian hymn stanza , then appears in the German hymn of the 14th and 15th centuries. It then becomes dominant in the time of the Reformation with Luther , who is the example here both through his own song poems and through translations of old church hymns ( You are three in eternity / O lux beata trinitas ; Christum we should already praise / A solus ortus cardine ) gave. The best known is probably Luther's Christmas carol Vom Himmel hoch, that's where I come from :

From the sky up, that's where I come from.
I'll bring you good new tales,
I bring so much to the good tale,
Of which I want to sing and say.

literature

• Dieter Burdorf, Christoph Fasbender, Burkhard Moennighoff (Hrsg.): Metzler Lexicon literature. Terms and definitions. 3rd edition Metzler, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-01612-6 , pp. 808f.
• Horst Joachim Frank : Handbook of the German strophic forms. 2nd Edition. Francke, Tübingen & Basel 1993, ISBN 3-7720-2221-9 , pp. 73-368.
• Otto Knörrich: Lexicon of lyrical forms (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 479). 2nd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-520-47902-8 .
• Fritz Schlawe: The German stanza forms. Systematic-chronological register of German poetry 1600–1950. Repertories on the history of German literature, Vol. 5. Metzler, Stuttgart 1972, ISBN 3-476-00243-8 , pp. 302–401.
• Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature. 8th edition Kröner, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-520-84601-3 , pp. 655, 881f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Frank: Handbook of German Strophic Forms. Tübingen & Basel ² 1993, p. 73.
2. ↑ Frank: Handbook of German Strophic Forms. Tübingen & Basel ² 1993, p. 74 f.
3. ↑ Frank: Handbook of German Strophic Forms. Tübingen & Basel ² 1993, p. 84 f.
4. ^ Clemens Brentano: Works. Volume 1, Munich 1963-1968, p. 63, online .
5. ↑ Frank: Handbook of German Strophic Forms. Tübingen & Basel ² 1993, pp. 106-114.