Structure
Heroic Stanza
Used in the 16th century for translations of Virgil; Gray gave it elegiac associations that have persisted. Also used by Shakespeare in 'The Rape of Lucrece.'
Definition
A quatrain of iambic pentameter rhyming ABAB, also known as the elegiac stanza or heroic quatrain.
Example
Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' employs this stanza throughout its 32 stanzas.