Stanzaic Structure

Stanza, in poetry, is a division of poem that has a fixed length, metre or rhyming scheme. A standard stanza may not be determined by length but by its connectivity; a standard stanza should be as connected in ideas as the prose paragraph. In other words, a standard stanza has unity; it expresses one united idea.

Stanzas vary in length. A stanza may have four to twelve verses/lines and it is often set off by a space but it will be unusual to have a stanza that consists of more than twelve lines. Any division of a poem starting from 12-15 lines and above is therefore regarded as a canto. There are different types of stanza, i.e., the English poem has stanzas like:

• Couplet
• Tercet
• Quatrain
• Quintain/cinquain
• Sestet.

The couplet refers to a two lines which have a fixed metrical pattern. aa/bb or something close to this. The tercet is three lines of a poem that hav a metre, aaa/bbb or aba/bcb, etc. The quatrain is a four successive rhyming lines of a poem: aaaa/bbbb or abab/cdcd. The quintain or cinquain is a patterned five rhyming lines in this sequence while the sestet, mostly found in the Petrachan sonnet is a six successive rhyming lines of a poem. It proffers answers to the philosophical question raised in an octave.

Last but not least, envoi is a short stanza at the end if a poem such as ballad. It's either used to comment on the previous body of a poem or to address an imagined or actual person. It is  also a poem on its own: a dedicatory poem of farewell including a farewell to living. The features of envoi include: not up to a stanza, i.e. a stanza may have four or more lines as stated above but an envoi is usually less than this. It may have up to three lines so that if it's compared in length with the preceding stanzas, envoi is realised to be shorter. It is always at the end of the poem. It passes a commentary note on the previous body or complement it. That is, envoi in a poem cannot have its unique meaning without the other body.