Trivia Time

Which poet is famous for creating an intricate stanza?

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stanza

American  

[stan-zuh] / ˈstæn zə /

noun

Prosody.

• stanzas
  plural

1. 

   an arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem.

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stanza British  

/ ˈstænzə /

noun

1. prosody a fixed number of verse lines arranged in a definite metrical pattern, forming a unit of a poem

2. a half or a quarter in a football match

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stanza Cultural  

1. A group of lines of verse, usually set off from other groups by a space. The stanzas of a poem often have the same internal pattern of rhymes.

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Synonym Usage

See verse.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonstanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaed
  adjective
• stanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaical
  adjective
• unstanzaic
  adjective
• stanzaically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stanzas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stanza

First recorded in 1580–90; from Italian: literally, “room, station, stopping-place” (plural stanze ), from unattested Vulgar Latin stantia, equivalent to Latin stant- (stem of stāns ), present participle of stāre “to stand” + -ia abstract noun suffix; see stand, -y ³

Explanation

Stanzas are the building blocks of formal poetry, like paragraphs in a story or verses in a song. They usually have the same number of lines each time, and often use a rhyming pattern that repeats with each new stanza. Shakespeare was the master of the stanza. His sonnets had three stanzas that were each four lines long, and then a two-line stanza at the end, all with a very particular rhyme and rhythm pattern. Poems with stanzas always have some sort of structure to them, but not all poetry uses stanzas, for example — free verse tends to be wild poetry without structural rules.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stanza stanzas

Now in the fourth stanza she suddenly admits personal loss: “A Book I have – a friend gave –.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

With every stanza, she settled into a musical rhythm that was satiric and bitingly honest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025

Crocker has changed his approach as he was now coming forward a bit more with his tight guard, and that was suiting Donovan, with the fight seemingly on a knife-edge heading into the final stanza.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025

The Buffaloes led 59-47 entering the fourth quarter but struggled in the final stanza scoring just nine points.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

I reached the end of the refrain before Aloine’s first stanza.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

She spends three stanzas working herself up to expressing her pain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

“I read the stanzas and try to paint pictures with the notes.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025

In his analysis of “Moving Towards Home,” Miller highlights stanzas such as:

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2025

They spoke on a recent day in their Berlin studio as they giggled and tripped over their own stanzas — which exploit a feature of German grammar that crams nouns together into strings of syllables.

From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2024

A few more stanzas, and they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• verse