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

This is still far below the Spenserian stanza, and the colour is inferior to that of Giles.

From A History of Elizabethan Literature by Saintsbury, George

Author of The Minstrel, a long, prosy poem in Spenserian stanza, and a prose Essay on Truth.

From A Brief Handbook of English Authors by Adams, Oscar Fay

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 Saintsbury, George

Alexandrine, 252-259; developed by Browning, 258; French, 18; in five-stress verse, 195, 208, 258; in sonnet, 272 f.; in Spenserian stanza, 103; unrimed, 255; used at end of stanzas other than Spenserian, 107.

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

See also the chapters on the Spenserian stanza in Corson's Primer of English Verse, where its use for pictorial effects is interestingly discussed.

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