The sizain (or sixain, both spellings coexist in the French metric tradition) refers to a stanza of six regular lines, not to be confused with the sextain, a fixed medieval form with permuted rhyme words across six sizains. This terminological confusion, noted in several metric works published after 2015, persists in educational materials that sometimes use “sextain” as a synonym for sizain, which constitutes a classification error.
Sizain and sextain: a metric distinction that educational materials overlook
The sextain is a fixed form inherited from Arnaut Daniel, composed of six stanzas of six lines followed by a tornada of three lines. The six terminal words of the first stanza appear in each subsequent stanza according to a codified permutation order (cross retrogradation). The sizain, on the other hand, is an autonomous stanza: six rhymed lines according to a free or codified scheme, without the obligation of lexical repetition.
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We observe that this confusion fuels a recurring misunderstanding. A student searching for what is a stanza of 6 lines called often encounters answers that mix the two concepts. The sizain is a type of stanza defined by its number of lines. The sextain is a complete poem defined by a system of permutation.
Remembering the difference can be summed up in one sentence: not every sizain is a sextain, but every sextain is composed of sizains.
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Rhyme schemes of the sizain: combinations that work in French versification
The sizain offers a flexibility of rhyme combinations that is significantly greater than that of the quatrain. While the classic quatrain is limited to three canonical arrangements (couplets, alternate, enclosed), the sizain multiplies the possibilities.
Three dominant arrangements in the classical repertoire
- AABCCB: two flat rhymes followed by an inverted crossed quatrain. This scheme creates a natural progression towards a climax in the sixth line, which explains its frequent use in song and lyrical poetry.
- ABABCC: two crossed rhymes closed by a couplet. The final pair produces a sentence or conclusion effect. It can be found in classical stanzas and among some Parnassian poets.
- AABCCB and ABBACC: the latter combines an enclosed rhyme (ABBA) and a terminal couplet (CC). The initial enclosure provides a dense sound foundation, while the final couplet cuts sharply.
The classic rule of alternating masculine and feminine rhymes applies to the sizain just as it does to any regular stanza. An entirely masculine or feminine sizain constitutes a license, not a norm.
Rhyme and meter: the couple that structures the sizain
The most common meter in the classical sizain remains the alexandrine. The octosyllable also works, with a faster rhythm suitable for narrative or satirical sizains.
The heterometric combination (mixing lines of different lengths) gives the sizain a rhythmic flexibility that the quatrain does not allow as easily. A sizain can alternate alexandrines and hexasyllables without losing its strophic coherence, provided that the rhyme scheme maintains the sound unity.
The sizain in French poets: concrete uses from Malherbe to Verlaine
The sizain has never been the most frequent stanza in French poetry. The quatrain overwhelmingly dominates, followed by the tercet (in the sonnet). The sizain occupies an intermediate position, but its uses reveal precise aesthetic choices.
Malherbe uses the sizain in his odes and stanzas with a metric rigor that will become the classical norm. His sizains in alexandrines with AABCCB rhymes establish a model of clarity and symmetry. The Malherbian sizain functions as a closed unit, each stanza carrying a complete idea without strophic enjambment.
In the 19th century, the romantics and then the Parnassians took up the sizain with different intentions. Hugo employs it in narrative poems where the six-line stanza allows for broader development than the quatrain while maintaining a sustained rhythm. Verlaine, in certain pieces from Fêtes galantes and Romances sans paroles, chooses short sizains (hexasyllables or heptasyllables) to create an effect of diffuse musicality.
Baudelaire, in Les Fleurs du mal, prefers the quatrain and the sonnet, but occasionally resorts to the sizain when the subject of the poem demands a controlled expansion. The Baudelairean sizain often serves as a transitional stanza in poems with variable structure.
Contemporary sizain: poor rhymes and voluntary constraints in writing workshops
In contemporary poetic writing practices, particularly in online workshops and groups of amateur poets, the sizain has seen a resurgence of interest in recent years. Workshop leaders describe it as a compromise between the brevity of the quatrain and the breadth of the eightain.
What changes compared to the classical tradition: the rhyme. Many amateur poets choose assonanced sizains or those with poor rhymes to lighten the technical constraint. Poor rhyme (a single common vocalic phoneme) or assonance replaces sufficient or rich rhyme without destroying the strophic structure. The sizain retains its six-time rhythm even with muted sound echoes.
This approach remains absent from most educational materials on versification, which present the sizain as an exclusively rhymed form according to classical rules. The reality of current poetic practice is more flexible.
Syllable counting in a sizain: diaeresis, synaeresis, and the mute e
The syllable count in a sizain follows the same rules as for any French verse, but the length of the stanza amplifies counting errors. In six lines, a miscounted syllable creates an audible rhythmic imbalance.
The mute e remains the main trap. It is pronounced before a consonant, elided before a vowel, and disappears at the end of a line. In a sizain in alexandrines, each line must count exactly twelve syllables, and the treatment of the mute e often determines the validity of the line.
Diaeresis (pronouncing a vowel group usually reduced to one in two syllables, like “li-on” instead of “lion”) allows for adjustment of the syllable count. Synaeresis does the opposite. In a regular sizain, the choice between diaeresis and synaeresis is not arbitrary: it depends on the classical usage of the word and the intended meter.
The sizain remains a stanza of French versification whose technical mastery relies on three interdependent elements: the rhyme scheme, the choice of meter, and the rigor of syllable counting. Neglecting one of the three is enough to shift the sizain towards the realm of disguised free verse.