KATREN: What's this?

Many of us have heard of such a concept as "quatrain". The meaning of the word "quatrain" is most often associated with one of the most famous seers - Michel Nostradamus, but initially this literary form appeared much earlier. Let's try to determine what actually is quatrain and where it is applied.

Quatrain: Definition

According to official data, quatrain itself is literary means. In fact, quatrain is an ordinary quatrain, built on the principle of one stanza of four lines.

Sometimes four-line forms of sonnets are called quatrains, more precisely, the first two lines, unlike the last two, called tercins.

What is quatrain in the basic interpretation?

Despite this definition, you can establish and some more things related to rhyme.

It is believed that quatrain is a structure rhymed by just a few rules:

• Aabb;
• Abab;
• Abba (not to be confused with the name of the popular Swedish pop group);
• Abcb.

A bit of history

Actually, the name "quatrain" is an interpretation of the French words quatrain and quatre (four). It is believed that for the first time quatrain was introduced in French literature in the 12th century in the work of Le Jeu d'Adam.

However, it can be confidently asserted that even at that time it was possible to meet several varieties of quatrains. For example, eight and ten-line forms were very popular. This is especially noticeable in the so-called Alexandrian verses and the epitaph of Villon (eight-syllable quatrain).

Incidentally, in Russian poetry, quatrain is even a means for writing epigrams, epitaphs, or some generalized sayings and phrases. The same Tyutchev often turned to such a literary reception, but the most famous saying is considered to be the phrase "Russia can not understand the mind ..." This is the classic example of quatrain. Tyutchev can be found and no less famous poem beginning with the phrase "We are not allowed to foresee ..." Yesenin has an almost sacred saying in the form of a quatrain "She will come, I give you bail ..." In general, in Russian literature, the use of quatrains can be met fairly Often, but only many of today's readers do not always determine that it is quatrain before them, and not something else.

Nostradamus

In our time, for some reason, the concept of quatrain is associated exclusively with Nostradamus, believing that such a quatrain must necessarily have some kind of coded form.

Alas, most scientists agree that it is possible to interpret any quatrain of Michel Nostradamus in two ways (this at least depends on a specific historical event). That is, it turns out that we just customize the story for a certain quatrain, believing that it must correspond to some episode.

But on the whole, there is a lot that fits within the framework of only one historical epoch, and the rest has only to guess and imagine what a quatrain could mean.

Thus, to say that the classical quatrain is a mixture of verse, prophecy and mystery is simply not possible. And for this there are all the prerequisites, because the same Nostradamus used this form exclusively as a literary device, although he managed to encrypt in it a lot of still incomprehensible information.

Conclusion

It remains to add that the quatrains are not only four-line rhymed poems. Quite often you can find stanzas consisting of four verses. As for the rules for writing quatrains, it is commonly believed that the first line is the main one and contains the main idea of the whole stanza. The second and third lines, as it were, emphasize the meaning of the first, and at the same time the rhyming rule is applied in them. On the semantic load, you first need to determine the object, and then use the use of its name or sensory attitude to it. In the very last line, you can portray a dilemma or put the reader in front of a choice that he did not expect at all. And although there are classical canons that were presented above, today it is increasingly possible to meet the rules for constructing stanzas based on the sequent abcd in different interpretations (for example, bbcb, aaba, ccdc, etc.) Thus, for improvising or creating something A truly unique field opens up a wide field of activity.

And if we take into account not only the possibility of rhyming the final syllables in each line, but also the use of words like "but", "however," etc., then each new quatrain, even on the same pre-defined topic, Differently. And then the forefront, so to speak, of the poet's gift and his ability to briefly and succinctly convey the essence of the thought in several phrases comes to the forefront. It's not for nothing that they say that brevity is the sister of talent. And this, by the way, is recognized by all the leading world writers and critics. And even the language barrier, as some believe, is not an obstacle. Finally, although not all literary aspects were considered here, many readers will still be able to understand what is really a classical quatrain.