tenson
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A contention in verse between rival troubadours, before a tribunal of love or gallantry; hence, a subdivision of a chanson composed by one of the contestants or competitors; also, one of the pieces of verse sung by the competitors, for which a peculiar meter was thought appropriate.
Examples
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When more than two singers took part in a tenson, it became a tournament.
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Somewhere out in the gloom coyotes chattered and yelped, and from far across the dusky valley others answered -- a doleful tenson.
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This group contains two-part songs, arranged dialogue-fashion, like a debat or a tenson.
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He soon rejected this manner and claimed in tenson (poem in form of a dialogue) that "easy and simple poetry is more esteemed and liked".
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI
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The name of _tenson_ was given to those poetical contests in verse which took place in the Courts of Love, or before illustrious princes.
Handbook of Universal Literature From the Best and Latest Authorities
Note
The word 'tenson' comes from a Provençal word meaning 'a poetical contest'.
