Final answer:
A recurring unit of a poem when lines are grouped together is called a stanza. Stanzas can have a variety of forms, such as couplets (two lines) or quatrains (four lines), depending on how many lines they contain and their structure. The correct answer is A.
Step-by-step explanation:
A recurring unit of a poem, when lines are grouped together, is known as a stanza. The stanza functions similarly to a paragraph in prose, grouping lines of poetry to give structure and adding rhetorical effect to the poem's overall composition. Some poems consist of a single stanza, while others, like William Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud," are divided into multiple stanzas.
Different stanza forms include:
- Couplet: a two-line stanza with end words that often rhyme.
- Tercet, or Triplet: a three-line stanza.
- Quatrain: a four-line stanza.
- Cinquain, or Quintain, or Quintet: a five-line stanza.
- Sextain, or Sestet: a six-line stanza.
Poets may also create variations based on the length of stanzas to establish a specific poetic form. For example, a sonnet traditionally contains 14 lines and a specific turn of thought known as a volta. The correct answer is A.