American Literature / Unit 1 AML 0017 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Stanza Shapes: Couplet, Tercet, Quatrain
Captions available
The idea
A stanza is a group of lines set off by space, and its length has a name. Two lines make a couplet, which the glossary defines as a stanza whose last words rhyme. Three make a tercet, four a quatrain, six a sestet, eight an octave.
In practice
Two, three, four, six, eight.
Where people slip
Shape narrows the form before you name it.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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