The additional step to using the symbols of metrics was an easy one, and a graphic diagram resulted much as follows:
The next development is a complete study of the stanza or strophe in the form of a summary; the number of lines, the rhymes, the accents, number and location of the syllables. To distinguish between the stanzas is also to classify them, which becomes a pleasing task for the children.
One little girl, who was making a summary study of four terzets of Dante, suddenly called the teacher to inform her with an expression of complete surprise: "See, the rhyme always begins at the last accent!" She had before her:
Per me si va nella città dolente;
Per me si va nell'eterno dolore;
Per me si va tra la perduta gente.
Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore;
Fecemi la divina potestate,
La somma sapienza e il primo amore.
Dinanzi a me non fur cose create....
(Dante: Inscription over Gate of Hell.)
So in metrics also the children, following the natural inclinations of their growth, pass from sensory discipline, to intelligent cognition, and graphic representation. Then they become the "explorers of their environment," the "discoverers" of general laws.
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