The
sonetto rispetto is a specialized form of
poetry related to the more well-known
sonnet. It was created and popularized in
Italy during the historical period known as the
Renaissance (14th to 17th centuries C.E.) A
sonetto rispetto has 8 lines of
iambic pentameter (though some poets experimented with
hexameter or other meters) per
stanza, in a rhyme scheme of either
a b a b a b c c, or
a b a b c c d d. This form was used for composing
improvised folk music using
popular tunes, and the
subject matter was usually an address of love from a gentleman to a lady.
Sources for this writeup: http://www.fuguemasters.com/malipier.html, http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/9282/sonnet.htm.