Laisse
A laisse is a type of stanza, of varying length, found in medieval French literature, specifically medieval French epic poetry, such as The Song of Roland. In early works, each laisse was made up of assonanced verses, although the appearance of rhymed laisses was increasingly common in later poems. Within a poem, the length of each separate laisse is variable.
The laisse is characterized by stereotyped phrases and formulas and frequently repeated themes and motifs, including repetitions of material from one laisse to another. Such repetitions and formulaic structures are common of orality and oral-formulaic composition. When medieval poets repeated content from one laisse to another, such "similar" laisses are called laisses similaires in French.