Question

Why have two different types of stanzas been used to structure ''Brennan on the Moor"?

Answer 1

The two different stanzas are the alternating stanzas of four lines and two lines, all with a consistent rhyme scheme. In the poem "Brennan on the Moor", each four-line stanza describes a new episode that continues the story, while the two-line stanzas repeat the same phrase about the main character, like a chorus.

Answer 2

The structure of a poem, also known as a type of organization, refers to how the lines or ideas of a poem are organized, which means that in a given poem each line and stanza has its place depending on what the poem is trying to express.  

Particularly, in the traditional Irish ballad ''Brennan on the Moor"  an alternating stanza of four lines and two lines with a rhyme pattern steady structure is used. Such alternative structure of two different stanzas are used with the following purpose; each four lines stanza describes a new episode on the main character's story, while the two lines stanzas, which basically repeat the same phrase, are used to separate such episodes.