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Literature vocabulary · Poetry

Stanza

Meaning in literature, with examples

/ˈstænzə/nounCore term

In literature, stanza means: A group of lines in a poem, separated from other groups by a space, that works like a paragraph in prose.

In Turkish: bent, kıta, dörtlük

How it is used

Used to refer to parts of a poem in analysis: in the first stanza, the final stanza, a four-line stanza. Stanzas of fixed length have names: a couplet has two lines, a tercet three, a quatrain four.

Example sentences

  1. The tone of the poem changes completely in the third stanza.

  2. Each stanza ends with the same line, like a refrain.

Common collocations

  • first stanza
  • final stanza
  • four-line stanza
  • opening stanza
  • verseWriting arranged in lines with a rhythm, as opposed to prose; also a single line of a poem or a group of lines in a song.
  • poemA single piece of writing in lines, often with a regular rhythm or rhyme, that expresses an experience, feeling or idea through carefully chosen language.
  • coupletA pair of consecutive lines of poetry, usually of the same length and rhyming with each other, that form a unit of meaning.
  • rhyme schemeThe pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines in a poem or stanza, shown with letters, for example ABAB, where lines with the same letter rhyme.

More terms: Poetry

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