Rhythmic variability in the oral interpretation of the Italian hendecasyllable: a comparative analysis of twelve contemporary poetic readings

The hendecasyllable, the most prominent meter in the Italian poetic tradition, is renowned for its broad internal rhythmic variability [1, 2, 3]. This flexibility has made it a versatile form, used both by the Stilnovist poets and by contemporary experimental poets. Scholars from various philological and linguistic approaches have extensively described its rules and its interdependent relationship with the phonological principles of the Italian language [4, 5]. However, compara- tively little research has been dedicated to the phonetic analysis of the hendecasyllable in poetry read aloud. This contribution provides an analysis of the rhythmic variability in a selection of hendecasyllables by comparing their metrical structure with a range of possible oral realizations. The aim is to explore whether the metrical patterns are preserved in oral performance or whether stress placement and other salient features deviate. The study focuses on 12 contemporary poetic readings selected from the Voices of Italian Poets archive [6, 7]: four readings of Alba by Gior- gio Caproni, four of Alle fronde dei salici by Salvatore Quasimodo, and four of La vita by Sandro Penna, including readings by the poets themselves. Each hendecasyllabic poem underwent metrical analysis, referring to Bracketed Grid Theory [1, 8], and was then compared with the prosodic and intonational structures of the registrations, according to the Voices of Italian Poets methodology [9]. The main conclusion of this study is that, in oral performance, the rhythmic-accentual struc- ture of the hendecasyllable can undergo further variation, influenced by the reader’s intonational choices or by semantic or syntactic coherence.