Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry English Verse
The Spenserian Stanza was created by Sir Edmund Spenser, 16th century English poet, for his Faerie Queene. The stanza has the feel of a scrunched, combination, Italian and Shakespearean mini-sonnet. Frances Mayes suggests the stanza makes an effective visual and rhythmic break in a long poem.
The elements of the Spenserian Stanza are:
a narrative. It tells a story centered around a single theme, often in a time frame that includes a beginning, middle and end. It is usually written in the 3rd person.
stanzaic, written in an