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*PREPARED BY ENGLISH HOUSE*
DEV
*ENGLISH NET/SET CONSULTANT*
(BA & MA, ENGLISH)
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*A stanza may be defined as a group of lines of poetry, forming a unit in themselves.* 👈 Thus the stanza is the unit of organisation in poetry, just as the paragraph is in prose. In many cases the stanzas composing a poem are quite irregular alike in length and structure, as in *Wordsworth’s Ode on the Intimations of Immortality and Tennyson’s Maud.* But as a rule, a poem is built up of units or sections strictly identical in form. Regular stanzas are commonly defined by the number of their lines and the arrangement of the rimes which bind these lines together. The stanza-forms of English poetry are so numerous and varied that no complete study of them can be attempted here; but the following may be mentioned as some of the best known examples of stanza-forms in English.
*1. The Chaucerian Stanza or Rhyme Royal*
The Chaucerian stanza is so-called because it was first used in England by Chaucer, *“the father of English poetry.”* 👈 Most probably he *borrowed it from France.* It is also called *_Rhyme Royal_ because it was used by King James I of Scotland in the 15th century for his well-known poem _King’s Quair._* 👈
*The Chaucerian Stanza is a stanza of seven Iambic Pentametre lines.* In this stanza the first line rhymes with the third, the second with the fourth and fifth, and the last two lines rhyme together, thus forming a couplet. *The rhyme-schme is a a b, a b b, c c.* 👈 The stanza is particularly suited for narrative verse, and Chaucer used it for several stories in *The Canterbury Tales*. Shakespeare used it for his *The Rape of Lucrece,* 👈 and in he Victorian Age it was used by *William Morris* for his *The Earthly Paradise.* 👈 Here is an example of the Chaucerian Stanza:
Then, childish fear, avaunt! debating, *die!* (a)
Respect and reason, wait on wrinkled *age!* (b)
My heart shall never countermand mine *eye;* (a)
Sad pause and deep regard beseem the *stage;* (b)
My part is youth, and beats these from the *stage;* (b)
Desire my pilot is, beauty my *prize;* (c)
Then who fears sinking where such treasure *lies?* (c)
*2. The Ottava Rhyma*
This stanza-form was first used in England in the early 16th century by *Sir Thomas Wyatt.* 👈 He frequently went to Italy on diplomatic missions, and it was from there that he introduced this stanza – form into England. Like the Chaucerian Stanza it is also well suited for narrative purpose. It has also been used for satiric purposes. *Shelley used it for his _The Witch of Atlas_, Keats for his _The Pot of Basil,_ and Byron for his _Don Juan._* 👈
*Ottava Rhyma is a stanza of eight Iambic Pentametre lines.* 👈 The first line rhymes with the third and fifth, the second with the fourth and sixth, and the last two lines rhyme together, and thus form a couplet. In other words the stanza consists of six lines rhyming alternately with a couplet at the end. The rhyme scheme of the stanza is *a b, a b, a b, c c.* 👈
Here is an example of Ottava Rhyma from Byron’s Don Juan:
Man’s love is of man’s life a thing *apart,* (a)
‘Tis woman’s whole existence; man may *range* (b)
The court, camp, church, the vessel, and the *mart;* (a)
Sword, gown, gain, glory, offer in *exchange* (b)
Pride, fame, ambition, to fill up his *heart,* (a)
And few there are whom these cannot *estrange;* (b)
Men have, all these resources, we but *one,* (c)
To love again, and be again *undone.* (c)
*3. Spensarian Stanza*
*The stanza is so-called because it was first used by the poet Spenser for his romantic epic, “The Fairy Queen”.* 👈 It is a stanza consisting of *eight Iambic Pentametre lines and an Alexandrine or a line of twelve syllables at the end.* 👈The first line rhymes with the third; the second, fourth, fifth and seventh lines rhyme together, and the sixth line rhymes with the eighth one and the nineth. *The rhyme scheme is a b a b, b c b c, c.* 👈 It is a very difficult stanza to handle, for in it one rhyme is repeated four times, and another three times. This naturally puts a severe strain on the skill and resources of a poet. He must have full command over language, to find so many words with similar end sounds. Even then the stanza is admirably suited for long narrative and descriptive poems. Spenser used it with great success for his *Fairy Queen*, and ever since poets have frequently used it with more or less success. In the early 18th century, *James Thomson*👈 used it for his *Castle of Indolence.* 👈 It was used by *Byron*👈 for his *Child Harold,* 👈by *Keats*👈 for *The Eve of St. Agnes,* 👈 by *Shelley* 👈 for *The Revolt of Islam and Adonais,* 👈 and by *Tennyson*👈 for *The Lotos-Eaters.* 👈
Here is an example of the Spensarian Stanza from Shelley’s Adonais:
Ah woe is me? Winter is come and *gone,* (a)
But grief returns with the revolving *year.* (b)
The arts and streams renew their joyous *tone;* (a)
The ants, the bees, the swallows, *reappear;* (b)
Fresh leaves and flowers deck the dead Season’s *bier* (b)
The amorous birds now pair in every *brake,* (c)
And build their mossy homes in field and *brere;* (b)
And the green lizard and the golden* snake,* (c)
Like un imprisoned flames, out of their trance *awake,* (c)
*4. The Terza Rhyma*
The Terza Rhyma is an Italian verse-form, and it was first used with great success by the Italian poet *Dante* 👈 for his monumental epic, *The Divine Comedy.* 👈 In England it was used with considerable success by *Shelley*👈 for his *Ode to the West Wind*.* Byron’s _Prophecy of Dante_, Browning’s _The Statute and the Bust_, and William Morris’ _The Defence of Guenevere_ are also written in this stanza.* 👈
*The Terza Rhyma is simply a group of three lines forming a unit.* 👈 In this stanza first line rhymes with the third, and the second line rhymes with the first and third of the following tercet (group of three lines). In this way each tercet is linked up with the next, the first with the second, the second with the third, and so on. A tercet may be run on or closed. In a run on tercet the sense overflows or runs on from one tercet to another. On the other hand in the closed variety, each tercet forms a complete sentence. Both these types have been used in England, but the run on variety has been generally favoured.
The rhyme-scheme of any two tercets would be *a b a, b c b,* 👈 and so on for the following tercets.
Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind provides typical examples of Terza Rhyma:
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s *being,* (a)
Thou, from whose unseen presense the leaves *dead* (b)
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter *fleeing,* (a)
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic *red,* (b)
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: *O thou,* (c)
Who chariotest to their dark wintry *bed* (b)
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and *low,* (c)
Each like a corpse within its grave, *until* (d)
Thine azure sister of the spring shall *blow* (c)
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and *fill* (d)
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in *air* (e)
with living hues and odours plain and *hill.* (d)
*5. The Quatrain*
*A Quatrain is a stanza of four Iambic lines with alternate rhymes i.e. the first line rhymes with the third, and the second with the fourth.* 👈 However, variations of this rhyme-scheme are frequent. Similarly, the length of the lines also varies. *The lines may be Pentametre, Tetrametre, or even shorter.* 👈 Sometimes, the first and third lines are longer than the second and fourth lines. Most of the ballads in the English language have been written in Quatrains, so it is also referred to as the *Ballad-stanza.* 👈 Coleridge’s *The Ancient Mariner*👈 and Keats’ *La Belle Dame Sans Merci* 👈 are the two poems in this form which readily come to one’s mind.
Here is an example of a Quatrain from *The Ancient Mariner:* 👈
The sun came up upon the *left,* (a)
Out of the sea came *he !* (b)
And he shone bright, and on the *right* (a)
Went down into the *sea.* (b)
*6. The Heroic Couplet*
*The Heroic Couplet consists of two Iambic Pentametre lines rhyming together. It is called ‘Heroic’ because Iambic Pentametre verse rhymed or unrhymed, was first used for epic or heroic poetry.* 👈 It is an important measure as far as English poetry is concerned. Most of the poetry of the Augustan Age (the age of Dryden and Pope 1660 – 1750) is cast in this measure.
*Each line of the heroic couplet consists of five feet or ten syllables, and the second syllable of each foot is accented.* 👈 The two lines of the couplet rhyme, and the rhyme may be single or double, though Pope, the ablest practitioner of the verse-form, generally uses single rhymes. In the middle there is a pause, technically called the *‘Caesura’*. 👈 This pause generally falls after the fourth and before the sixth syllable. But variations in the placing of the pause may be skillfully introduced in keeping with the requirements of thought and emotion. Further, there may be variations not only in the placing of the Caesura but also in its depth. Sometimes, this pause is so slight that it seems there is no pause at all.
The chief characteristics of the heroic couplet are well-illustrated by the following one:
*Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother,* (a)
*And half the platform, just reflects the other.* (a)
Each line of the couplet has five feet and the second syllable in each foot is accented. The position of pause is indicated by the comma. The last syllable of ‘brother’ rhymes with the last syllable of ‘other’.
*The heroic couplet may be of two kinds – closed or run on*. 👈 In the closed couplet the sense is competed with each couplet and each thus forms a complete sentence, a unit in itself. The couplet cited above is of a closed variety. In the run-on variety, the sense runs on from one couplet to another till it is completed. In this case, the individual couplet does not form a unit, but the unit is formed by a group of couplets which complete the sense, and this larger unit is called the verse-paragraph.
*The Heroic Couplet was first used in England by Chaucer who might have learned it from French sources.* 👈 He used this measure for may of the stories in the Canterbury Tales. *Spenser* 👈 used it with great skill for his *Mother Hubbard’s Tale*👈, *Marlowe* 👈too used it with great success for his *Hero and Leander.* 👈
However, it was in the Augustan age that the Heroic Couplet came to its own. At the very beginning of the era poets Waller and Denham showed great skill in its use. “The excellence and dignity of rhyme,” says Dryden, “were never fully known till Mr. Waller taught it: he first made writing easily an art; first showed us to conclude the sense, most commonly in a distich.” Pope pays a tribute to both:
And praise the vigor of a line,
Where Denham’s strength and Waller’s sweetness join;
However, it was with Pope and Dryden that the couplet entered on its most glorious phase. Both of them used it as the instrument of their satire. It has been said that each of their couplets stings and the sting is located in the tail. *Dryden used it for his _Absalom and Achitophel_ and _Macflecknoe_, and Pope for his _Rape of the Lock and Dunciad_.* 👈 He also used it for such narrative and philosophical works as *Essay on Man and Essay on Criticism.* 👈 Their use of the couplet is characterised by ease, vigour, strength and sweetness. Dryden’s use of it is more flexible, and variety is introduced in various ways. Often he uses run-on Couplets. Pope’s use of it is rigid. His couplets are generally of the closed variety. In his hands, the couplet reached perfection; no couplet of his can be improved upon.
Pope was widely imitated throughout the 18th century. But his followers did not have his genius and his ability and in their hands the couplet degenerated into a mere mechanical art and became monotonous. With the coming of the romantics there was a re-action against it. The romantics turned away from the couplet to other measures. However, the use of the couplet was not entirely discarded. Byron, Shelley and Keats all used it along with other verse-forms. Moreover, they used the run-on (or enjambed) variety of the couplet and not the closed one as was the case with Dryden and Pope. Keats’ *Lamia is written in run-on couplets.* 👈 A generation later, in the Victorian era, the couplet was used first by Browning and then by William Morris and Swinburne. The couplet continues to be used, specially for narrative poetry, but it is no longer the exclusive verse-form of English poetry, as it was in the Augustan Age. It has been considerably loosened, and hardly resembles the couplets of Pope and Dryden.
*7. Octosyllabic Couplet*
In the end, mention may also be made of the Octosyllabic Couplet. It differs from the Heroic Couplet, in as much as each line in it consists of eight syllables or four feet and not of ten syllables or five feet. It is a difficult measure to handle, and its use in long narrative poems tends to grow mechanical and tiresome. However, in the Restoration era (1660 – 1700) *Samuel Butler used it with great success for his satirical poem Sir Hudibras*.👈 In the romantic age, *Coleridge used it successfully for his Christabel.* 👈
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*COLLECTION BY*
*BY ENGLISH HOUSE*
*ENGLISH NET/SET CONSULTANT*
( *BA & MA, ENGLISH*)
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*HOW TO REMEMBER?*
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*1. The Chaucerian Stanza or Rhyme Royal* -
• 7 iambic pentameter lines
• Rhyme Royal – King Jame’s I – King’s Quair
• The rhyme-schme is a a b, a b b, c c
• Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales
• Shakespeare - The Rape of Lucrece,
• William Morris - The Earthly Paradise
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*2. The Ottava Rhyma*
• 8 lines - a b, a b, a b, c c.
• First used by - Sir Thomas Wyatt.
• Shelley - The Witch of Atlas
• Keats - The Pot of Basil
• Byron -Don Juan
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*3. Spensarian Stanza*
• The Fairy Queen
• 9 lines - eight Iambic Pentametre lines and an Alexandrine or a line of twelve syllables at the end.
• a b a b, b c b c, c.
• James Thomson -Castle of Indolence
• Byron - Child Harold
• Keats - The Eve of St. Agnes
• Shelley - The Revolt of Islam and Adonais
• Tennyson - The Lotos-Eaters.
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*4. The Terza Rhyma*
• 3 lines
• Dante for ‘Divine Comedy’
• Rhyme a, b, a – b, c, b – c, d, c … continue
• Shelley - Ode to the West Wind
• Byron’s - Prophecy of Dante
• Browning’s - The Statute and the Bust
• William Morris’ - The Defence of Guenevere
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*5. The Quatrain*
• 4 lines – a b a b
• Ballad-stanza
• Coleridge’s - The Ancient Mariner
• Keats’ - La Belle Dame Sans Merci
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*6. The Heroic Couplet*
• 2 lines – a a
• Introduced by Chaucer - Canterbury Tales.
• Spenser - Mother Hubbard’s Tale
• Marlowe - Hero and Leander
• Dryden - Absalom and Achitophel, Macflecknoe
• Pope - Rape of the Lock and Dunciad. Essay on Man and Essay on Criticism.
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*7. Octosyllabic Couplet*
• Samuel Butler -Sir Hudibras
• Coleridge – Christabel
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*COLLECTION BY*
*BY ENGLISH HOUSE*
DEV
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