What is the Spenserian stanza?

The Spenserian stanza was
developed by Edmund Spenser for The Faerie
Queene and was an adaptation of several preceding stanza
forms. The Spenserian stanza is unique for having nine lines and for having the first
eight lines iambic pentameter with the ninth line iambic hexameter. Keep this in focus
because it comes up again: nine lines, iambic pentameter (five repetitions of da DA),
iambic hexameter (six repetitions of da DA).

One predecessor is
Chaucer's stanzaic form in "The Monk's Tale." This stanza
form is in eight lines and has an ababbcbc rhyme
scheme.

readability="18">

SAMPSON.
Lo Sampson, which that was
annunciat
By thangel, longe er his nativitee,
And was to god
almighty consecrat,
And stood in noblesse, whyl he mighte see.
Was
never swich another as was he, 3210
To speke of strengthe, and therwith
hardinesse;
But to his wyves tolde he his secree,
Through which he
slow him-self, for wrecchednesse.
(Chaucer, "The Monk's
Tale")

The Old
French ballade and the Italian ottava rima
are considered the most direct influences on Spenser (as on Chaucer earlier when he
traveled Europe in the service of the court). The Olde French ballade was also eight
lines and had an ababbcbc rhyme scheme exactly like Chaucer's (or
rather Chaucer's was exactly like the Old French ballade). The Italian ottava rima is
also eight lines though the rhyme scheme is dissimilar to the others:
abababcc. It shows its influence on Spenser's ninth
line:

• Spenserian
  stanza: abab bcbc
  c


• Chaucer: abab
  bcbc


• Olde French ballade:
  abab bcbc


• Italian octava
  rima: abab abcc

Spenser's
ninth line is identified in English prosody as
iambic hexameter (hexameter is Latin for "six"). It has
six stressed beats, as in this early line from
The Faerie Queene:

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As one^ for knight^ -ly jousts^ // and fierce^ en
-count^ -ers fitt^.

Like much
of English poetry, Chaucer employs a pause in the midst of the line. A pause of this
sort is called a caesura and is borrowed from Old English
and Old French traditions, for example, Beowulf. The pause, or
caesura, is indicated above by two backslashes //. A line in iambic hexameter is not
measured by syllables (though some do incorrectly try syllabic
counts).

English prosody is
measured by rhythmic beats, as is the ninth line in the Spenserian stanza. The reason is
that English employs both pause and elision,
where words are blended together ('tis = it is blended) or
truncated (heav'n i' th' ev'n = heaven in the even, or evening).
Thus beats (stresses) are used for scansion, not
syllables.

The Old French
ballade line of six iambic repetitions is called the
alexandrine. It has some
difference from the English iambic hexameter line. For one
thing, the alexandrine is counted as syllables because French is an unstressed language
with every syllable carrying the same stress as the others. It also has two major poetic
accents and two minor ones. This contrasts with the six rhythmic stresses of iambic
hexameter: 4 French stresses to 6 English. Yet both employ a medial
caesura (mid-way pause).

With these
differences and one similarity in mind, it is poetic
convention to call Spenser's ninth line an
alexandrine because the two line forms are similar in principle.
Thus the Spenserian stanza is eight lines of iambic
pentameter and one Spenserian alexandrine--with a medial caesura, six rhythm-based
stresses, and no syllabic count--in the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc. The
rhyme scheme is "linked," or concatenated, at the
bb repetition and the
cc
repetition.