Examples of Different Stanza Forms in Poetry

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 📜 A stanza is a group of lines forming a unit in a poem, similar to a paragraph in prose.
• 🔢 Different stanza forms are defined by the number of lines, rhyme scheme, and meter.
• ✌️ A couplet consists of two lines that usually rhyme.
• 🥉 A tercet is a three-line stanza.
• ✨ A quatrain is a four-line stanza, arguably the most common.
• 🖐️ A cinquain is a five-line stanza.
• ⚔️ Sestet: Six-line stanza, often found in sonnets.
• ⭐ Octave: Eight-line stanza.
• ♾️ Ballad Stanza: Typically a four-line stanza in iambic tetrameter and trimeter, rhyming ABCB.
• 📝 Understanding these forms enhances appreciation and analysis of poetry.

✍️ Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following describes a stanza with four lines?

   1. Couplet
   2. Tercet
   3. Quatrain
   4. Cinquain

2. A two-line stanza is known as a:

   1. Triplet
   2. Couplet
   3. Quatrain
   4. Sestet

3. What is the term for a three-line stanza?

   1. Quatrain
   2. Cinquain
   3. Tercet
   4. Octave

4. How many lines does a cinquain have?

   1. Four
   2. Six
   3. Three
   4. Five

5. Which stanza form is commonly found in sonnets and contains six lines?

   1. Octave
   2. Sestet
   3. Quatrain
   4. Couplet

6. An eight-line stanza is called a(n):

   1. Sestet
   2. Cinquain
   3. Octave
   4. Quatrain

7. Which of these rhyme schemes is most typical for a ballad stanza?

   1. AABB
   2. ABAB
   3. ABCB
   4. AAAA