Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
canto
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Quizzes
Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry
A Study of Poetry
4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul
Famous Poets and Poetic Form
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:
Poetry: First Lines
Read Next
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, Scottish historical novelist and poet, 1870. Portrait of Scott author of Ivanhoe. Scotland
What did Sir Walter Scott write?
Ancient book lit by candle
9 Obscure Literary Terms
Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company
Periods of American Literature
The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. Salinger. Hardcover Book first sold: July 16, 1951. Current cover design dated 1991? Previous solid maroon book cover with gold font designed by J.D. Salinger in response to racey pulp paper back book cover. bad books
5 Good Books That Inspired Bad Deeds
poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).
World Poetry Day
Discover
Panama Canal infographic
Timeline and Map of the Panama Canal
Stylish light blue jeans on wooden background, closeup of inset pocket
Why Do Jeans Have That Tiny Pocket?
Colorful winter sunset
What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?
Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009
Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?
King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)
9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes
Flags of the countries of the world (flagpoles).
How Many Countries Are There in the World?
In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.
6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

canto

poetry
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
Related Topics:
poetry
duan
See all related content

canto, major division of an epic or other long narrative poem. An Italian term, derived from the Latin cantus (“song”), it probably originally indicated a portion of a poem that could be sung or chanted by a minstrel at one sitting. Though early oral epics, such as Homer’s, are divided into discrete sections, the name canto was first adopted for these divisions by the Italian poets Dante, Matteo Boiardo, and Ludovico Ariosto. The first long English poem to be divided into cantos was Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590–1609). Lord Byron structured his long poems Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812) and Don Juan (1819–24) in cantos. An ambitious, unfinished epic by the American poet Ezra Pound is known simply as The Cantos.

  翻译：