madrigal [It.]

(1) A poetic and musical form cultivated in 14th-century Italy. The madrigal as a verse form is mentioned by literary theorists of the early 14th century; neither they or any subsequent writer has successfully accounted for the etymology of the word. The poems, at first nearly always pastoral in theme but later more varied, usually consist of two of three stanzas of three lines followed by a ritornello of two lines (though the ritornello is sometimes lacking). Typical rhyme schemes are abs bcd dd, abb cdd ee, etc. Seven- and eleven-syllable lines are both used, but the latter predominate.