Definition

1. Noun:
   • The "eight lines" poetic form: A classical Vietnamese poetic form, specifically referring to a regulated verse type consisting of exactly eight lines. It is a key structure in Sino-Vietnamese poetry (Thơ Đường luật).
   • The "eight parts" structure: In a more detailed literary analysis, it can refer to the eight distinct structural parts or thematic movements within a single eight-line regulated verse.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Bài thơ này được làm theo thể bát cú. (This poem is composed in the eight-line regulated form.)
  • Thơ Đường luật thường có hai dạng chính: tứ tuyệt và bát cú. (Classical Chinese-style poetry often has two main forms: the quatrain and the eight-line poem.)

Advanced Usage

• "Thơ bát cú": This is the most common compound phrase, meaning "eight-line regulated verse." While 'bát cú' alone is the term, it is almost exclusively used in the context of poetry, so the compound is listed here for clarity.
  • Nguyễn Khuyến nổi tiếng với những bài thơ bát cú về làng quê. (Nguyễn Khuyến is famous for his eight-line poems about the countryside.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thơ Đường luật / Đường thi (n): Classical Chinese-style poetry/ Tang poetry, the broader tradition to which the form belongs.
• Tứ tuyệt (n): The "quatrain" form (four lines), another main structure in classical poetry, often contrasted with .
• Luật, Niêm, Vần, Đối (n): Key technical terms (rules, linking, rhyme, parallelism) governing the structure of a poem.

Synonyms

• Thơ tám câu: A more vernacular description meaning "an eight-sentence/lines poem." However, this lacks the specific technical connotation of the regulated form.

Notes on Meaning

• The term bát cú is highly specialized and is used almost exclusively in the context of traditional Vietnamese literature and poetry analysis. It does not have common everyday usage outside this academic/artistic domain.
• It specifically implies a poem governed by strict rules of tonal patterns, rhyme scheme, and parallel couplets, not merely any poem with eight lines.

1. Tang eight-line poetic form