Goal:
Find out stanza form
Guesses?
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow
I’d rather see than be one
Poetry Terms
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*Couplet – two line stanza
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*Tercet – three line stanza
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*Quatrain – four line stanza
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*Sestet – six line stanza
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*Octave – eight line stanza
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Couplet are two rhymes of verse
(typically rhyming a a)
In winter, when the fields are white,
I sing this song for your delight -
In spring, when woods are getting green,
I'll try and tell you what I mean.
In summer, when the days are long,
Perhaps you'll understand the song:
In autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink, and write it down.
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Three line stanza ; just like a couplet; this can
sometimes rhyme
Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson
The Eagle
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
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A quatrain consists of four
rhymed lines. The rhyme
takes various rhyme
schemes ( a a a a, a b a b, a
b a c, etc.)
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Six line stanza—used to refer to the last six
lines of a sonnet
Sonnet is a fourteen-line stanza form
consisting of iambic pentameter lines.
◦ There are two kinds: petrarchan and Shakespearean
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The main character or protagonist is
heroically larger than life, often the
source and subject of legend or a
national hero
The deeds of the hero are presented
without favoritism, revealing his
failings as well as his virtues
The action, often in battle, reveals
the more-than-human strength of
the heroes as they engage in acts of
heroism and courage
Examples:
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The setting covers several nations, the
whole world, or even the universe
The episodes, even though they may be
fictional, provide an explanation for some
of the circumstances or events in the
history of a nation or people
The gods, lesser divinities, or outside
forces play an active role in the outcome
of actions
All of the various adventures form an
organic whole, where each event relates in
some way to the central theme
Hero typically ends up “bringing back the
boon” or saving society in some way
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*Dramatic Poetry- Poetry in which one or
more characters speak
◦ Examples:
◦ Excerpts of Shakespeare
◦ Any poem with dialogue
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow
I’d rather see than be one
Ah, yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow"—
I'm Sorry, now, I wrote it;
But I can tell you Anyhow
I'll Kill you if you Quote it!