History: Minnesang, Middle High German, comes from minne, meaning love, and sanc, meaning song. The term applies to the German variant of the secular love lyric of the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 12th century, the poets were knights and lower nobility who wrote to unattainable noble women (commonly unattainable because they were married),...Read More

History: The Naneelu, also called the Naani, also called the Nali, is a form of Telegu poetry introduced by Sahitya Akademi Award winner Professor N. Gopi in 2002 in his book Naneelu: The Little Ones. Structure: In his own words: “Naneelu are short poems, not very short though. Everyone of them is neither needlessly compact nor...Read More

A note on this entry: This is one of those entries continually being worked on, as this is a bit obscure. If the information has made it this far, it has been vetted in various scholarly sources. However, we continue to find new information, the scholarship on this subject is continually under debate, and we...Read More

History: The word ‘Ovillejo’ is the diminutive for ‘Ovillo’ which itself means “clew, ball of string or twine” and, as Mr. Turco says in The Book of Forms, “metaphorically suggests something tight, complicated, and small. It is a Spanish form attributed to and popularized by Miguel de Cervantes. Specifically, in La Ilustre Fregona and chapter XXVII...Read More