The stanza consists of eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by a single alexandrine, a twelve-syllable iambic line. The final line typically has a caesura, or break, after the first three feet. As one for knightly jousts and fierce encounters fitt.
Critics note several earlier stanza forms as the basis for the Spenserian stanza .
One widely cited source is the ottava rima. A relatively modern use of the ottava rima can be found in Byron's Don Juan . Shelley is perhaps the greatest master of the Spenserian stanza after Spenser himself. Following this resurgence in the period of English Romanticism, the Spenserian stanza fell into disuse again in the mid-nineteenth century. Works Cited Evans, Ivor H., ed.