How to Write a Quatrain

The most common stanza form used in English poetry, a quatrain is simply a four-line stanza. It may have a rhyme scheme, a meter, both or neither. The term quatrain also refers to any four-line poem.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Dictionaries
• Thesauri

1. Consider the subject matter that you wish to write about.
2. Look at different rhyme schemes before writing your poem and experiment with as many forms as you can. This will help you become more comfortable working with forms and you will be less likely to use the same form every time.
3. Select a rhyme scheme either before or while writing. To make the rhyme scheme less noticeable, use slant rhymes and enjambment.
4. Write four lines of poetry.
5. Repeat as desired, but remember to skip a line when beginning a new stanza.
6. Revise as needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Variations abound but include heroic quatrain (iambic pentameter/any rhyme scheme); Italian quatrain (iambic pentameter/abba rhyme scheme); and Sicilian quatrain (iambic pentameter/abab rhyme scheme).

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