Perfectctave Meaning (Music) A musical interval of the Western twelve-semitone system, consisting of twelve semitones and covering all eight steps of the diatonic scale. Octavus: eighth note) or perfect octave (sometimes called the pitch) is the distance between one musical note and another at twice the frequency. To put it in simple words, an octave provides a dilemma or a problem in the first part, which, sestet, as the second part resolves.What does octave mean in music term? For other uses, see Octave (disambiguation). In poetry, it represents eight lines of a poem, often the first part of a sonnet, where it poses questions, while the second part, sestet, answers them. In fact, it is a distance between two notes with similar letter names. Function of OctaveĪn octave serves as a musical interval or plays the role of a short distance between two musical notes. It commonly uses a metrical pattern of iambic pentameter, 5 iambs in each line, which is shown as underlined in the second last line. This is an example of octave, which is the first part of Italian sonnet that ends with a contrasting sestet. “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent… Example #4: Sonnet 16 (by John Milton)Įre half my days in this dark world and wide, This form follows rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b. Example #3: Filiocola (by Giovanni Boccaccio)īoccaccio has used this 8-line verse Sicilian Octave in his earlier poem Filiocola. This stanza presents an example of Canzonetta, a verse form that uses rhyming pattern of a, b, a, b, c, d, c, D. Love was not, nor the gentle heart ere Love… Within the gentle heart Love shelters himĪs birds within the green shade of the grove.īefore the gentle heart, in nature’s scheme, Example #2: Of the Gentle Heart (by Guido Guinicelli) It is the first part of Petrarchan or Italian sonnet. This is an example of Petrarchan Octave, which follows the rhyme scheme of a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a. The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standĪ mighty woman with a torch, whose flame… With conquering limbs astride from land to land ‘Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, It also has double rhymes with external rhyme as a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d and internal rhyme follows the pattern of x-a-b-a-d-c-d-c.Įxamples of Octave in Literature Example #1: The New Colossus (By Emma Lazarus)
It also uses double rhymes with external rhyme as b-a-b-d-c-d-c and Internal rhyme a-b-a-c-d-c-x. It uses rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-c-c-d-d with 11 syllables in each line. It uses a rhyming pattern a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b. It follows rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c. It does not have a set form, but commonly follows rhyming pattern of a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b. Huitain consists of 8 or 10 syllables with each line having rhyming pattern of a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c or a-b-a-b-a-c-a-c However, the most common rhyming pattern for this verse form is a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a.
#Octave definition free
Sometimes it is in the form of free or blank verse or unusual pattern. The first one uses iambic tetrameter and the second one uses iambic trimeter. It follows rhyming pattern a-b-c-b-a-b-c-b. Initially, it did not follow any set rhyming patter however, later on it followed iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme of a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a. It follows the rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b. This verse form contains eight lines with 11 syllables, called hendecasyllable in Italian. Each stanza contains three alternate rhyming lines with one double rhyme. This form of octave contains 8 lines, which usually appear in iambic pentameter pattern. The rhyme scheme is: xaxa xbxb xcxc, where x is unrhymed. It follows alternating iambic pentameter and iambic dimeter lines. It appears in quatrains with uneven couplets and ends with a declamatory rhyming couplet. Types of OctaveĮach stanza of this verse form follows rhyme scheme of a, b, a, b, c, d, c, D. In simple words, it can be any stanza in a poem that has eight lines and follows a rhymed or unrhymed meter. Octave has been derived from the Latin word octāva, which means “eighth part.” It is a verse form that contains eight lines, which usually appear in an iambic pentameter.