- REDIRECT
The
canto is a principal form of division in a
long poem. The word
canto is derived from
Italian word for "song" or singing; which is derived from the Latin
cantus, for "a song", from the infinitive verb
canere—to sing. The use of the canto was described in the 1911 edition of the
Encyclopædia Britannica as " a convenient division when poetry was more usually sung by the
minstrel to his own accompaniment than read". There is no specific format, construction, or style for a canto and it is not limited to any one type of poetry.
