GENRE STUDIES UNIT-IV Stanza

 

Stanza

            A stanza is a series of lines grouped together in order to divide a poem; the structure of a stanza is often repeated throughout the poem.

 

Types of Stanza

                        Monostich- A one-line stanza. Monostich can also be an entire poem.

                        Couplet- A stanza with two lines that rhyme.

                        Tercet- A stanza with three lines that either all rhyme or the first and the third line rhyme- which is called an ABA rhyming pattern. A poem made up of tercets and concludes with a couplet is called a “Terza Rima”.

                        Quatrain- A stanza with four lines with the second and fourth lines rhyming.

                        Quintain- A stanza with five lines.

                        Sestet- A stanza with six lines.

                        Septet- A stanza with seven lines. This is called “Rhyme royal”.

                        Octave- A stanza with eight lines written in iambic pentameter, or ten syllable beats per line.

                        Ottava Rima is an eight-line stanza with the specific rhyme scheme in which the first six lines have an alternating rhyme pattern and a couplet as the final two lines.

                        Isometric Stanza- Isometric stanzas have the same syllabic beats, or the same meter, in every line.

                        Heterometric stanza in which every line is a different length.

                        Spensarian stanza named after Edmund spenser’s unique stanza structure in his poem “The Faerie Queen”. A spenserian stanza has nine line, eight in iambic pentameter- ten syllables in a line with emphasis on the second beat of each syllable- and a final line in iambic hexameter- a twelve syllable beat line (ABA,BBC, BBC).

                        Ballad stanza often used in folk songs, a ballad stanza is a rhyming quatrain with four emphasized beats (eight syllables) in the first and third lines, and three emphasized beats (6 syllables) in the second and fourth lines.