A stanza is a grouped set of lines in a poem, set off from the next group by a line break or extra space. It works like a poem's paragraph: it gathers related lines together and helps organize rhythm, movement, and meaning.
Stanzas can be any length, from two lines to many, and poets often use them to signal shifts in thought, tone, or speaker.
These are the first 2 stanzas of Maya Angelou's poem, Still I Rise, written in a quatrain stanza format.
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
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Types of Stanzas in Poetry
Example
Morning opens one window
then another.
By noon the kitchen hums
with light and dishes.
Evening gathers the sparrows
into the trees.