The paper studies accentual rhythm and grammatical structures in the lines of iambic tetrameter in odic stanzas of Aleksandr Sumarokov-one of the most prolific and influential 18th century Russian poets and theo- rists of verse. The research described in the paper is based on the concept of the Russian iambic tetrameter as a stereotype, a cliché, or a formula. This concept was introduced in the 1920s by Ossip Brik and later devel- oped by Mikhail Gasparov in relation to individual lines of the meter. The results obtained in the research demonstrate that in Sumarokov's odes, not only do the individual lines of iambic tetrameter become formulaic, but so does, to a certain extent, the whole odic decastich. Formulaic lines tend to occur in certain positions in stanzas. Moreover, they tend to accommodate the key images and ideas of Sumarokov's solemn odes-the absolutist idea of state power and greatness of the monarch.