Understand the stanza with elementary advice from Doris Corti
Stanzas in a poem make a visual shape on the page, but what are they actually used for? They were originally used by poets who were following the rules of traditional patterns. You can see this when reading defined stanza breaks in sonnets, villanelles, ballads, pantoums and various other forms.
Stanzas can make a poem look more inviting to read as well as the white spaces between them offering readers some breathing time.