English Stanzas Flashcards
A two line stanza
Couplet
Two line stanza with terminal rhyme
Closed Couplet
Two line stanza without terminal rhyme
Open Couplet
Two line stanza with terminal rhyme in Iambic Pentameter
Heroic Couplet; also has “masculine” rhyme and second line is end-stopped or heavy caesura
Any three line stanza; rhyme schemes vary
Tercet
Three line stanza rhyming aaa
Triplet
Any four line stanza
Quatrain
An envelope quatrain-in Iambic Tetrameter (four beats) rhyming abba
In Memoriam Stanza
Four lines in Iambic Pentameter rhyming abab
Elegiac Quatrain
Four lines in Iambic Pentameter rhyming abba
Italian Quatrain, or Italian Stanza
Four lines in Iambic Pentameter rhyming aaxa
Rubaiyat Stanza, or Rubaiyat Quatrain
Any five line stanza, but typically heterometric
Cinquain
Any six line stanza
Sestet
A six line stanza rhyming aaabab and is heterometric
Burns Stanza
Any seven line stanza
Septet
A seven line stanza rhyming ababbcc
Rhyme Royal (most commonly used in the Medieval or Renaissance period)
Eight Line Stanza in Iambic Pentameter rhyming abababcc
Ottava Rima
An eight line stanza in Iambic Pentameter rhyming ababbcbcc and the last line is Alexandrine aka hexameter
Spencerian Stanza
A stanza composed for a specific poem and not used again
Nonce Stanza
An Iambic hexameter line
Alexandrine
Iambic Tetrameter couplets
Octosyllabics