POETRY INTRODUCTION Stanzas and Rhyming Schemes STANZA v

POETRY INTRODUCTION Stanza’s and Rhyming Schemes

STANZA v A stanza is a group of lines within a poem, it is like a paragraph in writing. v There is no set length to a stanza or an insistence that all stanzas within a poem need be the same length. v However, there are names for stanzas of certain lengths

STANZA NAMES Number of Lines Stanza Name 2 Couplets 3 Tercets 4 Quatrains 5 Quintain 6 Sestet 7 Septet 8 Octave

RHYMING PATTERN v When rhyming in poetry, we look at the last word in each line and create a rhyming pattern for each stanza. v The rhyming pattern can be anything and there is only one rule for the rhyming pattern - we use letters to express the pattern v Example: • aa, bb, cc; aa, bb; bxb, aabaacaad; abab cdcd efef gg; aa, bb, axa,

METERS IN POEMS v If we put a hard syllable with a soft syllable and add these syllables together, the words take on a beat or rhythm of dadum. v This is the basic form of Meter and is known as the Iamb. One unstressed beat (u) and one stressed beat (/) v With the da-dum beat the ‘da’ is the unstressed beat and the ‘dum’ is the stressed beat.

METERS IN POEMS v We add up how many da-dums we have in each line, this will tell us what kind of Iamb we have. v Each stanza, even each line, can have a different meter as well. v If the stanza (or line) has one da-dum, it is called an iambic monometer, if it has two da-dums it is called an iambic dimeter and so on.

METERS IN POEMS Amount of da-dums Meter name 1 Monometer 2 Dimeter 3 Trimeter 4 Tetrameter 5 Pentameter 6 Hexameter 7 Heptameter

ASSIGNMENT v Poem One - has at least three stanzas, at least a tercet (but no higher than a quintain), iambic pattern is open and has a noticeable rhyming pattern. v Poem Two – has at least one stanza (no more than three), at least a tercet (but no higher than a quintain), each stanza has at least an iambic trimeter (no higher than an iambic pentameter) and the rhyming pattern is open.