A stanza is a group of lines forming the basic unit of a poem. Like paragraphs in prose, stanzas separate ideas in a poem, and they are typically set apart by line breaks or indentation. A stanza can vary in length; it can be two lines or more. Below you can see the first two stanzas of “The Tyger” by William Blake.
Stanza example Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
Iambic pentameter is a term describing the rhythmic structure of a line in a poem or play. Each line written in iambic pentameter consists of ten syllables in a specific pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Iambic pentameter example Solongasmencanbreathe, oreyescansee
Iambic pentameter is the most common rhythmic pattern in English literature. Many renowned writers, such as William Shakespeare, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and John Milton, have used its rhythm and flow to pace their poems and plays.
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. This pattern is notated by labeling the lines that rhyme with each other with the same letter; for example, an ABBA rhyme scheme indicates that the first line rhymes with the fourth one, and the second line rhymes with the third.
Rhyme scheme exampleRoses are red (A)
Violets are blue, (B)
Sugar is sweet (C)
And so are you. (B)
This nursery rhyme follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, with “blue” and “you” rhyming.
Rhyme schemes help poets create rhythm, structure their thoughts, and make their work more memorable.
