The Sicilian Octave Described and Exemplified
To thee, fair Isle, Italia’s satellite,
Italian harps their native measures lend;
Yet, wooing sweet diversity, not quite
Thy octaves with Italia’s octaves blend.
Six streaming lines amass the arrowy might
In hers, one cataract couplet doth expend;
Thine lake-wise widens, level in the light,
And like to its beginning is its end.
To thee ’tis pleasure, haply to have brought
Home precious ware from China or Japan;
And thine, when keen and long pursuit hath caught
Strange bird, or Psyche gay with veinèd fan—
And thine, to spell some sentence wisdom-fraught
In palimpest or Arab alcoran;
And mine, to seize some rare and coloured thought
And cage it in my verse Sicilian.
Richard Garnett, LL.D.
Although this shape is not actually akin to the group of forms in this book, yet for examples of another variety of strict verse, the author has kindly allowed two specimens to be quoted.