Rhyme royal (or rime royal) is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced to English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The form enjoyed significant success in the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth century. It has had a more subdued but continuing influence on English verse in more recent centuries. Form The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCC. In practice, the stanza can be constructed either as a tercet and two couplets (ABA BB CC) or a quatrain and a tercet (ABAB BCC). This allows for variety, especially when the form is used for longer narrative poems. Thanks to the form's spaciousness compared to quatrains, and the sense of conclusion offered by the couplet of new rhyme in the sixth and seventh lines, it is thought to have a cyclical, reflective quality. History Introduction and success Chaucer first used the rhyme royal stanza in his long poems Troilus and Criseyde and the Parlement of Foules, written in the later fourteenth century. He also used it for four of the Canterbury Tales: the Man of Law's Tale, the Prioress' Tale, the Clerk's Tale, and the Second Nun's Tale, and in a number of shorter lyrics. He may have adapted the form from a French ballade stanza or from the Italian ottava rima, with the omission of the fifth line. Chaucer's contemporary and acquaintance John Gower used rhyme royal in In Praise of Peace and in one short part, the lover's supplication, in Confessio Amantis. In the fifteenth century, rhyme royal would go on to become a standard narrative form in later Middle English poetry alongside the rhyming couplet. James I of Scotland used rhyme royal for his Chaucerian poem The Kingis Quair. The name of the stanza might derive from this royal use, though it has also been argued that the stanza name comes from the use of poetry for addresses to royalty in festivals and ceremonies. English and Scottish poets were greatly influenced by Chaucer in the century after his death and many made use of the form in at least some of their works. John Lydgate used the stanza for many of his occasional and love poems, and throughout his 36,000-line Fall of Princes. Rhyme royal was also chosen by poets such as Thomas Hoccleve, John Capgrave, George Ashby, and the anonymous author of The Flower and the Leaf. The