What is a distinctive feature of the sestina form?

• A. A fixed number of four-line stanzas.
• B. A strict iambic meter is used throughout.
• C. The repetition of end words in a specific alternating pattern.
• D. The poem must have a strict rhyme scheme.

Answer: (C)

The thing this form tests is how end words are repeated in a precise rotating pattern throughout the poem. You choose six end words, and in each six-line stanza, the lines end with those words, but in a fixed sequence that shifts from stanza to stanza so the same six words keep reappearing in different positions. After the six stanzas, a brief envoi wraps things up, using the same words in a condensed form. This deliberate repetition pattern—the end words cycling in a specific order—is the defining feature. Meter and rhyme aren’t the defining constraints here, which is why the form isn’t described by a strict meter or rhyme scheme.