the spenserian stanza is a fixed verse form invented by edmund spenser for his epic poem "the faerie queene". each stanza contains nine lines in total. the first eight lines are in iambic pentameter, that is consist of ten syllables, followed by a single alexandrine line in iambic hexameter, that is are made up of twelve syllables. the rhyme scheme of these lines is "a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c-c."