Tercet

A tercet is a group of three lines of poetry, either a stanza on its own or part of a longer poem.

Tennyson wrote a whole poem as a pair of tercets. The three lines of each rhyme with each other.

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle", 1851

What it is

The tercet is the shortest stanza that can hold a full rhyme pattern. It can be a triplet rhyming AAA, or part of a chain of linked rhymes, as in terza rima. The haiku is a tercet in the unrhymed sense.

How to spot it

Look for stanzas of exactly three lines. They can rhyme in many patterns: AAA in a triplet, ABA, or an interlocking chain such as ABA BCB. If every stanza has three lines and none of them is a refrain, the poem is built in tercets. A poem written in couplets or quatrains can still end on a tercet, so check the whole shape before you name it. Three lines also suit a short statement with a twist at the end.

Why it matters to a writer or editor

Three lines are enough to set up, turn and land. A tercet is a good size for a single image and its consequence, which is why it keeps coming back.

Frequently asked questions

What is a triplet?

A triplet is a tercet where all three lines rhyme with each other, as in Tennyson's poem below.