A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Quatrains can be found in poems from various poetic traditions of ancient civilizations. There are different forms of quatrains, including:
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ABAC or ABCB: This is known as unbounded or ballad quatrain, and it has various rhyme schemes. An example is Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” or “Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks.
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AABB: This is known as a double couplet, and it is used in A.E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young” .
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ABAB: This is known as interlaced, alternate, or heroic, and it is used in Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” .
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ABBA: This is known as envelope or enclosed, and it is used in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” or John Ciardi’s “Most Like an Arch This Marriage” .
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AABA: This is the stanza of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” .
Quatrains are popular in poetry because they are compatible with different rhyme schemes and rhythmic patterns.
