What is a Stanza?

March 14, 2006 by John Hewitt

The term stanza means “stopping place” in Italian. A stanza is a set of lines in a poem, set apart from other sets of lines by space. Each stanza comprises its own unit. The break/space between stanzas generally indicates a pause between thoughts, concepts or actions. In standard practice, most poems end a sentence at the end of stanza. It is important to remember, however, that there is no definitive rule that says this must happen. Of all writing forms, poetry is the most experimental. Rules of form get broken all the time.

Many poems are written without stanza breaks. These poems simply continue for however many lines the poem lasts. It is possible to call these poems single-stanza poems, but in practice few people worry about any rules or guidelines for stanzas in these cases.

Most poetry forms have rules regarding the length of stanzas. For example, a sestina has seven stanzas. The first six are six lines long and the last is three lines long. A sestina has many other rules involving repetition and order of words, but stanzas are the primary concern here.
Stanzas provide structure and format within a poem. In many ways they are the equivalent of a paragraph in a prose work. The use of stanzas can make a poem more visually appealing, and give the poem a means of division. Even poems without rhyme or meter will gain structure from the use of stanzas.

Stanzas can take many forms, most of which are unnamed. A few standard stanzas have stood the test of time. A couplet is a two-line stanza; if the two lines rhyme it is called a rhyming couplet. A tercet or triplet is a three-line stanza. A quatrain is a four-line stanza. Sometimes a stanza is called a verse or a stroph. The meaning is essentially the same, but stanza is the far more popular term.

The important thing to remember is that, except when you are using a set form, you have a great deal of leeway in how you use stanzas. You can set stanzas to break at the end of every sentence, every action, or every independent thought, for example. Unless a particular form demands it, you should simply divide your poems up in ways that make sense to you. A stanza can vary in number of lines and in line length or meter. Using multiple stanzas is simply a way to bring structure to your poem.

Below is an index to our 30 Poems in 30 Days Project.

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Comments

24 Responses to “What is a Stanza?”

ioan on September 7th, 2006 2:38 pm

Thanks very much I enjoyed the clarifaction and the explanation, really useful
Tiff on October 28th, 2006 5:45 pm

Thanks for this info, it was really informative. =]
Akhtar Alam on November 1st, 2006 4:23 am

GREAT explanation in the context of peotry’s stanza.
melkamu on February 9th, 2007 6:30 am

I have enjoyed reading about stanza. I have a deep passion form poems and poetry study. thank you very much for posting such user friendly explanition for stanza.
DanI on March 26th, 2007 10:33 pm

This was really helpful! My 7th grade reading was made much clearer! thnx 5:) {Elvis fans rock!}
victor on April 11th, 2007 1:54 pm

This site is poetry made simple
John Hewitt on April 12th, 2007 6:28 pm

I’m Glad I could help. Good luck with your writing everyone.
Jackie Stevens on June 11th, 2007 5:29 am

Well, that’s sorted that little problem out, clearly. Not that complicated after all.
Thank you
Katie on September 24th, 2007 2:53 pm

Oh, thank you so much! That made things a lot easier. Because dictionary definitions tend to be way too technical.
Goo on January 7th, 2008 10:53 am

Thank you sooo much! This explination made things much better:) I was a little confused at what the dictionary was meaning. thank you:)
Hugh Smith Tones on January 15th, 2008 7:35 am

I am finding it difficult to ascertain the difference in definition of stanza and verse. Can you point me in a definitive direction either with a specific definition or by examples. Thank you.
John Hewitt on January 15th, 2008 8:18 am

Hi Hugh,

A Verse is a line of poetry.

Stanzas are collections of verses.
Savannah on May 15th, 2008 12:23 pm

Thanks for the clarification! I’m doing a project for my seventh grade reading project. I had NO idea what a stanza was. Thanks again! (savvygirl)
Savannah on May 15th, 2008 12:25 pm

I’m sorry, I meant …doing a seventh grade reding project.
Katina on May 30th, 2008 11:24 pm

I have been writing poetry for the past ten or so years, and have learned that the best poems are those that are written from the “heart” verses the “brain.” However, without the brain, we would have a whole lot of grammar issues. The 30 poems in 30-day project is very common nowadays, although, the topics listed here on the site are extremely useful, thank you.

Last August, a new site opened, “my site” and we are slowly getting the word out about the writing contest, and other features. It seems that so many new writers get caught up in the poetry.com trap which saddens me.

Poetry that is well developed has a place in books, electronic journals, and online. I think that we need to stress to new writers, especially those interested in poetry, that writing poems is work–work, that deserves recognition, publication, and eventual income generating business.

Writers take it from me, you can improve your writing, you can find a literary agent, and you can get paid for all of your efforts in writing. All you need to do is do the research. Find out who is accepting poetry, “small presses, electronic journals, online writing communities, writing competitions, publishers, and so on.

After you locate a dozen or so places to submit your work too. Check the company out. Are they a mass produced publishing company? Do they expect money to publish your writing? With giving you nothing in return?

Writers–Spring Fling Writing Competition 2008 has just been extended until July 4, 2008. You still have time to submit a poem, short story, or flash fiction entry! Go to OSWS: One Stop Write Shop, to learn more.

Thank you,

Sincerely,
Katina M. Woodruff
Writer for OSWS
2007-2008

Good Luck to all of you!
King Blogger on September 29th, 2008 7:53 pm

Thanks for all these explanations. I’m just now getting into serious writing, so all of these help quite a bit. I kinda feel stupid not knowing what any of these are though, lol.
hemouda on November 21st, 2008 3:27 pm

thank you for putting stanza out there
Aubrey on March 24th, 2009 4:19 pm

this didn’t help much!

Aubreys last blog post..Poem: The Second Hospital
;ljljgjvkuyv on May 11th, 2009 6:10 am

ballsack
pegah on October 21st, 2009 9:33 am

hi
thank you so much for your great explanation. i’m a persian girl and study english as a second language.
your article help me so much
thank you again
Anonymous on December 20th, 2009 4:14 am

can any body tell mehow can we do da rime scheme of this stanza !!!!
example
round,round,the roof doth run;
And being ravished thus,
Come i will drink a tun
To my propertius
it a b a b
but i cant get it y and when do we put da c , d , e , and f !!!!!
50 Important Facts You Probably Forgot Between 5th Grade and College | Online Universities on January 13th, 2010 10:27 pm

[...] is a single line of poetry, though more loosely it is a series of words arranged metrically. A stanza is a group of these verses, usually composed of four or more that work together in a poem or a [...]
50 Important Facts You Probably Forgot Between 5th Grade and College – CollegeTimes™ on January 14th, 2010 9:43 am

[...] is a single line of poetry, though more loosely it is a series of words arranged metrically. A stanza is a group of these verses, usually composed of four or more that work together in a poem or a [...]
daily | 50 Important Facts You Probably Forgot Between 5th Grade and College on January 19th, 2010 4:47 pm

[...] is a single line of poetry, though more loosely it is a series of words arranged metrically. A stanza is a group of these verses, usually composed of four or more that work together in a poem or a [...]