To describe how end words in a sestina are used, which statement is correct?

• A. They appear in every stanza in the same order.
• B. They are chosen after drafting the poem.
• C. They alternate according to a set pattern.
• D. They never repeat.

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is how the end words are used in a sestina: they recur in a fixed rotation across the stanzas. In a traditional sestina, you choose six end words and then place them at the ends of lines in the first stanza in a chosen order. In each new stanza, those same six words appear again, but in a predetermined rotating sequence, so the position of each word shifts through the stanzas. This pattern repeats throughout the six stanzas, and the final tercet brings all six words back in a specific arrangement. Because the words repeat in a set rotation, they are not all in the same order every stanza, and they are not never repeated. The rotation is what gives the form its musical feel and structural discipline.