A sestina is best described as which of the following?

• A. A narrative ode
• B. A limerick sequence
• C. A sonnet variant
• D. A thirty-nine-line poetic form

Answer: (D)

At the heart of a sestina is its fixed structure: six six-line stanzas plus a three-line envoy, totaling 39 lines. The six end-words that appear at the ends of lines are reused in a strict rotating pattern across the stanzas, so each stanza ends with one of the same six words in a new order. This combination of length, repeating end-words, and a concluding envoy is what distinguishes a sestina from other forms. It is not a narrative ode, not a limerick sequence, and not a sonnet variant, all of which follow different lengths and rhyme schemes.