Stanza (STAN-zuh) refers to a group of lines that forms the basic unit in a poem. Think of a stanza as the equivalent of a paragraph in prose. Stanzas appear in free verse , blank verse, and formal verse poetry. The word stanza first appeared in English in the 1580s and indicated a “group of rhymed verse lines.”
Full Answer
What does stanza stand for?
Definition of stanza. 1 : a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in a usually recurring pattern of meter and rhyme : strophe.
What does stanza mean in English?
A stanza is a well-defined group of several lines of poetry having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme; the scheme is usually repeated. In Italian, stanza means “a stopping place, room (in a house), lodging, chamber, stanza (in poetry).”. The Italian word comes from Vulgar Latin stantia, a noun formed from stant-, the present participle stem of stare “to stand” and the abstract noun …
What is the difference between a stanza and a canto?
stan·za. (stăn′zə) n. One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines. [Italian; see stance .] stan·za′ic (-zā′ĭk) adj.
What does the name stanza mean?
Here’s a quick and simple definition: A stanza is a group of lines form a smaller unit within a poem. A single stanza is usually set apart from other lines or stanza within a poem by a double line break or a change in indentation. Some additional key details about stanzas:
See more
What is stanza example?
The words that say "In the winter it's every kid's dream, / As snowflakes begin to appeal, / That suddenly there'll be a blizzard, / And they'll cancel school for the year" is a stanza. The other two separate chunks of sentences form one stanza.
What does the meaning stanza mean?
Definition of stanza 1 : a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in a usually recurring pattern of meter and rhyme : strophe.
What does stanza mean in poetry?
stanza, a division of a poem consisting of two or more lines arranged together as a unit. More specifically, a stanza usually is a group of lines arranged together in a recurring pattern of metrical lengths and a sequence of rhymes.
Is a stanza a paragraph?
In poetry, a stanza is used to describe the main building block of a poem. It is a unit of poetry composed of lines that relate to a similar thought or topic—like a paragraph in prose or a verse in a song. Every stanza in a poem has its own concept and serves a unique purpose.
What is a stanza like in a story?
Stanzas are the building blocks of formal poetry, like paragraphs in a story or verses in a song. They usually have the same number of lines each time, and often use a rhyming pattern that repeats with each new stanza. Shakespeare was the master of the stanza.
What is another word for stanza?
In this page you can discover 14 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for stanza, like: refrain, verse, strophe, stave, couplet, division, quatrain, syllable, sestet, petrarchan-sonnet and dimeter.
How many lines is a stanza?
Like lines, there is no set length to a stanza or an insistence that all stanzas within a poem need be the same length. However, there are names for stanzas of certain lengths: two-line stanzas are couplets; three-lines, tercets; four-lines, quatrains. (Rarer terms, like sixains and quatorzains, are very rarely used.)
What is 2 stanzas in a poem?
2 line stanzas are called Couplets. Couplets usually rhyme, but they do not have to. A stanza in poetry is a group of lines usually separated by a blank line. Stanzas of 2 lines are called Couplets from the Old French word cople meaning two.
Can a stanza be one line?
A poem or stanza with one line is called a monostich, one with two lines is a couplet; with three, tercet or triplet; four, quatrain. six, hexastich; seven, heptastich; eight, octave. Also note the number of stanzas.
How do you write a stanza?
A stanza is a group of lines that form the basic metrical unit in a poem. So, in a 12-line poem, the first four lines might be a stanza. You can identify a stanza by the number of lines it has and its rhyme scheme or pattern, such as A-B-A-B. There are many different types of stanzas.
Is stanza same as verse?
MAIN POINTS OF DIFFERENCE: - Stanza is the opposite of paragraph WHEREAS verse is considered to be the opposite of prose. Note: Stanza is a group of lines in a poem. The term verse has many meanings in poetry; verse can refer to a single metrical line, stanza or the poem itself.
Do all poems have stanzas?
Some poems have one stanza, and others have more stanzas.
historical usage of stanza
Stanza is first recorded in English at the end of the 16th century, borrowed from Italian. A stanza is a well-defined group of several lines of poetry having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme; the scheme is usually repeated.
How to use stanza in a sentence
The short film featured the singer delivering stanza s from British-Somali poet Warsan Shire, and celebrity cameos from the likes of Zendaya and Serena Williams.
Cultural definitions for stanza
A group of lines of verse, usually set off from other groups by a space. The stanzas of a poem often have the same internal pattern of rhymes.
What is a stanza in poetry?
1. stanza - a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem. poem, verse form - a composition written in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines. couplet - a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse; usually rhymed. octave - a rhythmic group of eight lines of verse.
What is the Spencerian stanza?
The Spencerian stanza, with its rich variety of movement and its harmonious closes, long shut "Childe Harold" from me, and whenever I found a poem in any book which did not rhyme its second line with its first I read it unwillingly or not at all.
How many lines are in a quatrain?
quatrain - a stanza of four lines. Spenserian stanza - a stanza with eight lines of iambic pentameter and a concluding Alexandrine with the rhyme pattern abab bcbc c; "the Spenserian stanza was introduced by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene". strophe - one section of a lyric poem or choral ode in classical Greek drama.
What is a strophe in Greek?
strophe - one section of a lyric poem or choral ode in classical Greek drama. antistrophe - the section of a choral ode answering a previous strophe in classical Greek drama; the second of two metrically corresponding sections in a poem.
Who recommended the Raven?
THIS stanza from "The Raven" was recommended by James Russell Lowell as an inscription upon the Baltimore monument which marks the resting place of Edgar Allan Poe, the most interesting and original figure in American letters.
What is a stanza in poetry?
Here’s a quick and simple definition: A stanza is a group of lines form a smaller unit within a poem. A single stanza is usually set apart from other lines or stanza within a poem by a double line break or a change in indentation. Some additional key details about stanzas:
What does "stanza" mean in Italian?
The dictionary definition of Stanza: A basic definition that includes a bit on the etymology of stanza (in Italian it means "room," or "stopping place.")
How many syllables are in Emily Dickinson's poem?
In this two-stanza poem by Emily Dickinson, the first stanza alternates lines of iambic tetrameter (eight syllables) with lines of iambic trimeter (six syllables), and the rhyme scheme is ABCB. Since this is formal verse, the second stanza should be expected to repeat the same pattern (the same meter and rhyme scheme, but using different rhymes), ...
What is formal verse?
In formal verse —that is, poetry with a strict meter and rhyme scheme—a stanza may contain multiple meters and different rhymes. For example, some stanzas alternate between iambic pentameter and iambic tetrameter. However, the general rule about stanzas in formal verse is that their form recurs from stanza to stanza—the words are different in each stanza, but the general metrical pattern and rhyme scheme are usually the same in each stanza.
How many lines are in a stanza?
Cinquain: A stanza made up of five lines. Also called a quintain. Some poems, such as the Japanese tanka and the American cinquain, consist of a single five-line stanza. Sestet: A stanza made up of six lines. Also called a sestain.
What is a stanza in free verse?
In free verse —or, poetry without meter or rhyme scheme—the stanza is a unit that is defined by meaning or pacing, rather than by meter or rhyme. In other words, a stanza break may be used in free verse to create a pause in the poem, or to signal a shift in the poem's focus.
What are the different types of stanzas?
Types of Stanzaic Form. For the most part, stanzas are named according to the number of lines they contain. Couplet: A stanza made up of two lines. The simplest and most basic unit of poetry in English is the rhyming couplet. Tercet: A stanza made up of three lines. Also called a tristich.