What is a poem that tells story usually with four-lined stanzas?

A poem that tells a story, usually with four-lined stanzas, is called a ballad.

Here are some key characteristics of ballads:

* Narrative: Ballads tell a story, often with a simple plot and clear characters.

* Stanza structure: They are typically written in quatrains (four-line stanzas).

* Meter: Ballads often use a common meter called iambic tetrameter, which has four pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables per line.

* Rhyme scheme: Ballads commonly follow an ABAB rhyme scheme.

* Theme: Ballads often explore themes of love, loss, adventure, and the supernatural.

* Oral tradition: Many ballads originated as folk songs and were passed down orally, often with variations in the story.

Here's an example of a ballad stanza:

> The wind blew cold, the rain fell fast,

> The ship was lost, the crew were cast

> Upon the shore, with naught to save

> But hope and courage, strong and brave.