Learning About Poetry Identify the letter of the choice that best answers the question. In poetry, a quatrain may be defined as a:
A. a poem consisting of fourteen lines

B. a poem consisting of seventeen syllables

C. a stanza consisting of four lines

D. the prologue to an epic

Question

Learning About Poetry Identify the letter of the choice that best answers the question. In poetry, a quatrain may be defined as a:  
 A. a poem consisting of fourteen lines  
 
 B. a poem consisting of seventeen syllables  
 
 C. a stanza consisting of four lines  
 
 D. the prologue to an epic

jagatuba · Answer

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

-From William Blake's "The Tyger"

wach · Answer

a. 14-line poems are generally of the Shakespearean sort, with 3 quatrains and 1 couplet, (or a 2-lined stanza. )
b. 17-syllables refers to a haiku poem, with a line of 5 syllables, one of 7, the last with 5. 
c. The excerpt that jatatuba posted above is a quatrain, or a section of a poem with 4 lines (think of 'quat' or 'quatr' which is the latin root for '4'). They are often found in the works of Blake/Shakespeare. :) 
d. Prologue to an epic? Doesn't have a defined length.