quatrain

Everyday

A verse or stanza of a poem with four lines, often with a rhyme pattern like ABAB or AABB. tree →

In the lessons

In English lessons on poetry pupils count lines and spot rhyme schemes; many nursery rhymes, hymns and ballads are made of quatrains. Phrases: «write a quatrain», «a rhyming quatrain», «the first quatrain».

Examples

• A quatrain is a stanza with four lines. tree →
• «Twinkle, twinkle, little star» starts with a quatrain. tree →
• Write a quatrain about the sea with the rhyme scheme AABB. tree →
• Each verse of the hymn is a quatrain. tree →
• The poem has three quatrains and a couplet at the end. tree →
• In the quatrain, lines 1 and 3 rhyme, and so do lines 2 and 4. tree →

Note

Countable: quatrain, quatrains. Pronounced KWOT-rain. Poetry words for line counts: couplet (2), tercet (3), quatrain (4), quintain or cinquain (5). From French «quatre» (four).