Definition of a Stanza? A stanza can be defined as, “A group of verses or lines forming a section within the larger poem is called a stanza. The lines forming one stanza are similar in their its metre and rhyme scheme. The number of lines appearing in one stanza varies from 2 to 8 and normally remains consistent throughout the poem.” A stanza can also be better understood as one paragraph in the poem. Types of Stanzas Couplet: A stanza with two rhyming lines Tercet: A stanzas with three lines that may or may not rhyme Quatrain: A stanzas with four lines that may or may not rhyme Cinquain: A stanzas with five lines that may or may not rhyme Sestet: A stanzas with six lines that may or may not rhyme Septet: A stanzas with seven lines that may or may not rhyme Octave: A stanzas with eight lines that may or may not rhyme Other variations in the Stanza form include the following: Ballad Stanza Burns Stanza or Scottish Stanza Ottava Rima Stanza Sicilian Octave Stanza Spenserian Stanza Balassi Stanza Onegin Stanza Terza Rima Example of a Stanza Poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. Stanza #1 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, (line 1) And sorry I could not travel both (line 2) And be one traveler, long I stood (line 3) And looked down one as far as I could (line 4) To where it bent in the undergrowth; (line 5) Stanza #2 Then took the other, as just as fair (line 6) And having perhaps the better claim, (line 7) Because it was grassy and wanted wear; (line 8) Though as for that, the passing there (line 9) Had worn them really about the same, (line 10) Stanza #3 And both that morning equally lay (line 11) In leaves no step had trodden black (line 12) Oh, I kept the first for another day! (line 13) Yet knowing how way leads on to way, (line 14) I doubted if I should ever come back. (line 15) Stanza #4 I shall be telling this with a sigh (line 16) Somewhere ages and ages hence: (line 17) Two roads diverged in a wood, and I (line 18) I took the one less traveled by, (line 19) And that has made all the difference. (line 20) Amy has posted this article. To learn more about stanza writing, visit how to write?
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