Sapphic stanza in Polish poetry the 16th century Jan Kochanowski created a three-line stanza, being just a shortened Sapphic stanza (11/11/5), and used it in his "Psalm 34". Much later Kochanowski's proposal was used by Cyprian Kamil Norwid in his famous poem "Coś ty Atenom zrobił, Sokratesie?" ("What Did You Do to Athens, Socrates?") Juliusz Słowacki, a romantic poet, frequently used a sexain rhyming "a b a b c c", and invented a stanza using this rhyme scheme but suggesting the Sapphic stanza in its metre: 11a/11b/11a/5b/11c/5c. It is also possible that Słowacki was inspired by the well-known Burns stanza which also consists of four
The Quatrain of Seven Steps The Quatrain of Seven Steps The Seven Steps Verse, also known as the Quatrain of Seven Steps (), is a highly allegorical poem that is usually attributed to the poet Cao Zhi. The poem's first appeared in the classic text "Shishuo Xinyu", published in 430. The famed scene (79th "hui") describes Cao Pi's suspicions of his brother Cao Zhi trying to usurp his rule (Cao Pi was also jealous of his brother's talents, particularly his masterful command of imagery). Consequently, Cao Zhi is summoned to the court and is issued an ultimatum in which he must produce a poem within