The canto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkanto]) 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.
Famous poems that employ the canto division are Luís de Camões' Os Lusíadas (10 cantos), Lord Byron's Don Juan (17 cantos, the last of which unfinished), Valmiki's Ramayana (500 cantos), Dante's The Divine Comedy (100 cantos), and Ezra Pound's The Cantos (120 cantos).
Canto is an album by jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd recorded in December 1996 by Lloyd with Bobo Stenson, Anders Jormin, and Billy Hart.
The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Canto is the song of a master who employs all of his tools in the creation of a work of art". The All About Jazz review by Alex Henderson stated "Lloyd, like Trane, has always been very spiritual, and there's no way getting around the fact that spirituality is a crucial part of Canto. The rewarding post-bop session has a meditative quality, and Lloyd's modal improvisations draw heavily on Middle Eastern and Asian spiritual music... [a] strong addition to Lloyd's catalogue".
Canto is the fifth studio album (sixth album overall including the live album Unplugged at Kafka) by C-rock band Soler. It performed successfully on the Hong Kong charts. The title of the album is a play on words, referring to canto, Italian for "I sing", and referring to Canto, a popular slang for Cantonese language, as the album is sung entirely in Cantonese. The album deviated from the heavy rock elements of their previous album X2, by employing a new funk and indie elements driven by acoustic guitar.
It's good to see the sun
And trace the miles of golden corn
To walk the sacred ground
Where I was born
To touch the morning glories
Upon the hills we used to climb
To see your face
After all this time
Chorus:
From the long lonesome road I come to greet you
From the land where the restless hearts roam
I've come back to tell just how much I need you
And that your wayward lover has come home
So fine to lay in fields
Beneath the arc of heaven's light
To hold you in my arms
Deep into the night
So glad to know your heart
Has not grown bitter with the years
To see forgiveness
In your moonlit tears
(Chorus)
Once I left a girl crying
Beneath an old willow tree
Just thought she might be waiting there for me
From the land where angels fear to stray
It took a million miles to know how much I want you
And that your wayward lover's here to stay