Stanza

A stanza is a related group of lines or verses in a poem. A stanza also can be a verse in paragraph form. They can keep on going without punctuation. It may also be a line in a poem.

Two most important features of a stanza is the number of lines and the rhyme scheme. There are many kinds of stanza.

• Two-line stanza (aa).
• Three-line stanza (aaa).
• Four-line stanza (aaaa, aabb, abab, abba)
• Five-line stanza (for example ababb)
• Six-line stanza (for example ababcc)
• Seven-line stanza (for example ababbcc, it is called rhyme royal)
• Eight-line stanza (for example abababcc, it is Italian ottava rima)
• Nine-line stanza (for example ababbcbcc, it is Spenserian stanza)
• Ten-line stanza (for example ababccdeed)

An Italian sonnet consists of two four-line stanzas and two three-line stanzas:

• abba abba cdc dcd

A French ballad is composed of three eight-line stanzas and a four-line one:

• ababbcbc ababbcbc ababbcbc bcbc

Some stanzas are named after poets, who invented or often used them. An example is Sapphic stanza that was named after famous Greek woman poet Sappho.