Spenserian stanza

American  

noun

1. the stanza used by Spenser in his Faerie Queene and employed since by other poets, consisting of eight iambic pentameter lines and a final Alexandrine, with a rhyme scheme of ababbcbcc.

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Spenserian stanza British  

noun

1. prosody the stanza form used by the poet Spenser in his poem The Faerie Queene, consisting of eight lines in iambic pentameter and a concluding Alexandrine, rhyming a b a b b c b c c

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Etymology

Origin of Spenserian stanza

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Spenserian stanza

For instances of this, see the section on the Spenserian stanza, pp. 102-108, above, and Corson's chapters on the Spenserian stanza and its influence, in his Primer of English Verse.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

He chose a curious and rather infelicitous variation on the Spenserian stanza ababbccc, keeping the Alexandrine but missing the seventh line, with a lyrical interlude here and there.

From A History of Elizabethan Literature by George Saintsbury

Neither has it the deep pathos of the Spenserian stanza, which perhaps strives at the deepest vein of poetry.

From Fables of John Gay (Somewhat Altered) by John Gay

For other instances of final alexandrines, doubtless used under the general influence of the Spenserian stanza, see the following specimens.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

With reference to the versification of this poem, see what is said of the Spenserian stanza, page 232.

From Six Centuries of English Poetry Tennyson to Chaucer by James Baldwin