Spenserian stanza

Spenserian stanza
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.
[1810-20]

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▪ poetic form
      verse form that consists of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by a ninth line of six iambic feet (an alexandrine); the rhyme scheme is ababbcbcc. The first eight lines produce an effect of formal unity, while the hexameter completes the thought of the stanza. Invented by Edmund Spenser for his poem The Faerie Queene (1590–1609), the Spenserian stanza has origins in the Old French ballade (eight-line stanzas, rhyming ababbcbc), the Italian ottava rima (eight iambic pentameter lines with a rhyme scheme of abababcc), and the stanza form used by Chaucer in his “Monk's Tale” (eight lines rhyming ababbcbc). A revolutionary innovation in its day, the Spenserian stanza fell into general disuse during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was revived in the 19th century by the Romantic poets—e.g., Byron in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Keats in “The Eve of St. Agnes,” and Shelley in “Adonais.”

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  • Spenserian stanza — n. a stanza consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter and a final line of iambic hexameter (an alexandrine), with a rhyme scheme ababbcbcc, used by Spenser in The Fairie Queene …   English World dictionary

  • Spenserian stanza — The Spenserian stanza is a fixed verse form invented by Edmund Spenser for his epic poem The Faerie Queene . Spenser intended this poem to be many thousands of Spenserian stanzas, hence its epic name, but he died before even 1/4 of his goal was… …   Wikipedia

  • Spenserian stanza — noun a stanza with eight lines of iambic pentameter and a concluding Alexandrine with the rhyme pattern abab bcbc c the Spenserian stanza was introduced by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene • Hypernyms: ↑stanza …   Useful english dictionary

  • Spenserian stanza — noun Etymology: Edmund Spenser Date: 1817 a stanza consisting of eight verses of iambic pentameter and an alexandrine with a rhyme scheme ababbcbcc …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Spenserian stanza — noun the stanza used by Spenser in The Faerie Queene, consisting of eight iambic pentameters and an alexandrine, with the rhyming scheme ababbcbcc …   English new terms dictionary

  • Spenserian stanza — Spense′rian stan′za n. pro the stanza used by Spenser in his Faerie Queene (1590–96), consisting of eight iambic pentameter lines and a final Alexandrine, with a rhyme scheme of ababbcbcc[/ex] • Etymology: 1810–20 …   From formal English to slang

  • Spenserian stanza — /spɛnˌsɪəriən ˈstænzə/ (say spen.searreeuhn stanzuh) noun 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 …  

  • Spenserian — 1817, from Edmund Spenser (c.1552 1599), Elizabethan poet. Spenserian stanza, which he employed in the Faerie Queen, consists of eight decasyllabic lines and a final Alexandrine, with rhyme scheme ab ab bc bcc. For the origin of the surname, see… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Spenserian — [spen sir′ē ən] adj. of or characteristic of Edmund Spenser or his writing n. 1. a follower or imitator of Spenser 2. a Spenserian stanza, or poem in such stanzas …   English World dictionary

  • spenserian — adj. of, relating to, or in the style of Edmund Spenser, Engl. poet d. 1599. Phrases and idioms: Spenserian stanza the stanza used by Spenser in the Faerie Queene, with eight iambic pentameters and an alexandrine, rhyming ababbcbcc. Etymology: E …   Useful english dictionary

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