STANZAIC

FORMS
STANZA
A grouping of two or
more lines of a poem
in terms of length,
metrical form, or
rhyme scheme
METER is a unit of rhythm
in poetry, the pattern of the
beats. It is also called a foot.
Each foot has a certain
number of syllables in it,
usually two or three syllables.
The difference in types
of meter is which syllables are
accented and which are not.
COMMON
STANZAIC
FORMS
COUPLET
a literary device which can be
defined as having two
successive rhyming lines in
a verse and has the
same meter to form a complete
thought. It is marked by a
usual rhythm, rhyme scheme
and incorporation of specific
utterances.
TYPES OF COUPLETS
Here are a few types of couplets:
Short Couplet
Split Couplet
Heroic Couplet (Closed and
Open Couplets)
Shakespearean Couplet
Alexandrine Couplet
Qasida
Chinese Couplet
Example #1
“At Sestos Hero dwelt; Hero the fair,
Whom young Apollo courted for her
hair,
And offered as a dower his burning
throne,
Where she should sit for men to gaze
upon.
The outside of her garments were of
lawn,
The lining purple silk, with gilt stars
drawn;”
Example #2
Time was, a sober Englishman wou’d knock
His servants up, and rise by five a clock,
Instruct his Family in ev’ry rule,
And send his Wife to Church, his Son to
school.
To worship like his Fathers was his care;
To teach their frugal Virtues to his Heir;
To prove, that Luxury could never hold;
And place, on good Security, his Gold.
(From: Pope, Imitations of Horace, Ep. II.i)
TERCET
sometimes also called
a triplet, is a stanza with
three lines of the same
rhyme (aaa or two rhyming
lines embracing a line
without rhyme (axa).
TYPES OF TERCETS
haiku
triplet
enclosed tercet
Sicilian tercet
Example #1: Haiku

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
Example #2: Triplet

Oh, Galuppi, Baldassaro, this

is very sad to find!
I can hardly misconceive you;
it would prove me deaf and
blind;
But although I give you credit,
'tis with such a heavy mind!
Example #3: Sicilian Tercet

Beneath the snow and frozen light

of day
Await the seeds of budding hope
to rise
And yet those hints of green lead
us astray
Example #4: Enclosed Tercet

White furry paw upon my skin

Soft plea for love
A little scratch, a purring grin
QUATRAIN
A quatrain is a stanza in a poem
that has exactly four lines.
Some quatrains comprise entire
poems, while others are part of
a larger structure. Quatrains
usually use some form
of rhyme scheme, especially the
following forms: AAAA, AABB,
ABAB, and ABBA.
Example #1:

The curfew tolls the knell of parting

day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the
lea,
The plowman homeward plods his
weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness
and to me.
Example # 2:

O, yet we trust that somehow

good
Will be the final goal of ill,
To pangs of nature, sins of will,
Defects of doubt, and taints of
blood;
CINQUAIN
- is a poem that resembles a diamond.
- It has 5 lines and begins with one
word.
- The 2nd line has two adjectives that
describe that word.
- The 3rd , three verbs.
- The 4th line is a phrase that goes
deeper into the topic.
- The 5th line gives either a synonym
for the first word, or a word that
encompasses the whole poem.
 Example # 1
Sister
Smart, Outgoing
Loving, playing, Laughing
Always in for some fun
Friend
 Example # 2
“Tucson Rain”
The smell
Everyone moves
To the window to look
Work stops and people
start talking
Rain came
SESTET
can therefore be
described as being formed
of a quatrain and a
couplet liked together
(ABABCC)
 Example # 1
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom
you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no
other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
 Example #2
Behind Me -- dips Eternity --
Before Me -- Immortality --
Myself -- the Term between --
Death but the Drift of Eastern
Gray,
Dissolving into Dawn away,
Before the West begin --
 Example # 3
O mistress mine, where are you
roaming?
O stay and hear! your true-love's
coming
That can sing both high and low;
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
Journey's end in lovers' meeting—
Every wise man's son doth know.