heroic stanza
- noun
- /həˈroʊɪk ˈstænzə/
- Literature
:
estrofa heroica
- Her assignment was to write a poem in the form of a heroic stanza with an abab rhyme scheme.
Examples
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The poet composed the opening lines in a heroic stanza to set an epic tone.
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Many eighteenth-century English poems employ the heroic stanza for their narrative passages.
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What is a heroic stanza?
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The heroic stanza is a common form.
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The poet crafted a beautiful poem using a heroic stanza to convey deep emotions.
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In his latest work, the author chose a heroic stanza to enhance the grandeur of the story.
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To understand epic poetry better, students learned how to write a heroic stanza in class.
Synonyms
A group of four lines in a poem with ABAB rhyme often used for poems about loss
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'heroic' (relating to epic or heroic themes) and 'stanza' (a verse unit) can reasonably infer this refers to a stanza associated with heroic or epic poetry. However, the specific formal requirements (a four-line quatrain in iambic pentameter with an abab rhyme) are technical poetic details that are not predictable from the parts, so full meaning requires specialist knowledge.
Etymology
Heroic stanza got its name from poems about brave 'heroes'. Poets often used a four-line stanza with a steady, noble rhythm and an abab rhyme to tell these big stories, so the form became known as 'heroic' and today it means a four-line stanza used for grand or epic poems.
