rhyme royal

American  

noun

Prosody.

1. a form of verse introduced into English by Chaucer, consisting of seven-line stanzas of iambic pentameter in which there are three rhymes, the first line rhyming with the third, the second with the fourth and fifth, and the sixth with the seventh.

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rhyme royal British  

noun

1. prosody a stanzaic form introduced into English verse by Chaucer, consisting of seven lines of iambic pentameter rhyming a b a b b c c

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Etymology

Origin of rhyme royal

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

The poem is written in rhyme royal, which may be a clue in itself … They flee from me that sometime did me seekWith naked foot, stalking in my chamber.I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek,That now are wild and do not rememberThat sometime they put themself in dangerTo take bread at my hand; and now they range,Busily seeking with a continual change.

From The Guardian

Whether the Spenserian stanza is a modification of the rhyme royal or of the stanza used by Boccaccio and Ariosto it is impossible to say—all three are obviously related to each other—but in view of Spenser’s admiration for Chaucer, and his deliberate attempt to use “Chaucerisms,” it is at least probable that in this respect the Faerie Queene owes a debt to Troilus and Criseyde.

From Project Gutenberg

As for stanzas, the rhyme royal was not "follow'd" anymore, Spenser's choice was "unlucky," and in general, as Cowley had said, "no kind of Staff is proper for a Heroic Poem; as being all too lirical...."

From Project Gutenberg

In 1593 appeared the first of Drayton’s historical poems, The Legend of Piers Gaveston, and the next year saw the publication of Matilda, an epical poem in rhyme royal.

From Project Gutenberg

Rhyme royal is a seven-line stanza invented by Chaucer.

From Project Gutenberg