tercet
- noun
- /ˈtɜrˌsɛt/
- Literature
:
terceto
- In the opening tercet, the poet establishes the mood and sets the stage for the rest of the work.
- the final tercet
- the first tercet
- the last tercet
Examples
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According to the final tercet, pain is found in the difficult and sad journey of life, not in death.
Academic text (1992) -
And the poet is notably absent until the final tercet.
Academic text (2003) -
The second tercet, finally, seems to return to the scene of arrival before the lady.
Academic text (2002) -
The first tercet, however, abandons this military metaphor for an agricultural one.
Academic text (2002) -
Memory is also the theme of the tercets in Sonnet IX.
Academic text (2002) -
The last tercet names Earth and wind, already alluded to as "laberinto" and "altos pensamientos."
Academic text (1992) -
In the final tercet, the road to death—life itself—is a solitary activity.
Academic text (1992) -
"In the first tercet, the two verbs in the subjunctive—"viva" and "no me quede"—represent the poet's devout supplication.
Academic text (1992) -
The poem consists of three stanzas, each with a distinct tercet that reveals a different theme.
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Each tercet in the sonnet adds depth to the overall meaning, enhancing the emotional impact.
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
tercet = terc + et
The elements 'terc-' and the diminutive '-et' come from Romance borrowings and are not productive or familiar to an average B1 learner, so the meaning 'group of three lines' is not derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Tercet comes from the Latin tertius, which means 'third' or 'three'. Think of it like a poetic trio — a set of three lines together — so a tercet is a group of three lines in a poem.