A stanza is the arrangement of a certain number of verses to a self-contained form. The stanza is subordinated to a higher metric unit, such as the poem or the song. This means that a lyric text consists of verses composed of verses.
Originally the word Strophe originates from the Chorlyrik and can be translated with the phrase (gr .: στροφή ~ strophē). The stanza described the change of direction of the chorus at a round dance in the Greek drama. This change was accompanied by a change in the song.
In the seventeenth century, the term came from French to German. Up to this point, the descriptions were used in mid-high German, or piece, volume, verse, or verse in the Master’s Song, when a collection of verse lines was described.
Note: The term “verse” nowadays means the single line of a poem, a “stanza” being formed from several such verses. Only the church member still speaks of verses, if the stanza is described. (→ verse)
The stanza in the poem
The individual verses within a poem are separated by a paragraph. Consequently, we could also speak of the sections of a poem.
In order to clarify what has been written, let us look at an example. We chose the first two stanzas from Heinrich Heine’s Die Wanderratten.
There are two varieties of rats:
The hungry and rich.
The rich remain happy to the house,
The hungry but wander out.
They wander many thousand miles,
Without restraint and time,
Gradaus in her grim course,
No wind nor weather holds them up.
In this example the stanza-like structure of a poem emerges quite clearly. We have to do with two verses (aabb and ccdd), which are formed by four verses, ie lines. These verses are arranged in pairs (→ Reimschema).
The stanza in the narrower sense
In German language, all verse units of a poem are basically called stanzas. In the strict sense, however, a stanza should have some characteristics.
In the narrower sense, a stanza means that similar features are also present in the verse units. We can determine these by means of a common rhyming scheme, metrums (→ verse), an identical verse number, or the length of the verses.
In the above excerpt from the Wanderratte, for example, there are four verses in each stanza, whereby the number is constant. Furthermore, a complete pair rhyme can be found in all verses, and the length of the verses (syllable number) is similar.
If, in this respect, no similarities or continuous features are found, which can be identified in the respective verses, it is more sensible to speak of the sections of a poem. If, however, there are only a few deviations from a higher-level form, this must be emphasized in an analysis (→ poem analysis).
Different stanzas and patterns
If certain features can be seen within a verse, we can arrange them in a particular pattern. Here we speak of the stanza form.
Such forms are usually found in traditional lyricism and are characterized by a very strict metrum or a certain rhyme scheme, which deviates from the usual rhymes and is only used repeatedly in this stanza form.
The most common forms of stanzas are the stanza, the folk terse, the Italian terzine, the Chevy-Chase stanza, and the folk songstrops and oststhems.
The most important overview
The stanza is the arrangement of a certain number of lines in a poem.
Basically, a poem consists of verses composed of verses.
However, if there are no similar features within the individual verses (metrum, rhyme, rhythm), it is better to speak of the sections of a poem.