Line is a every line of a poem. Verse can have two meanings: the opposite of prose or it can be a synonym of stanza.
Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line from other stanzas. They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:
- couplet (2 lines)
- tercet (3 lines)
- quatrain (4 lines)
Types of poems include:
Meter is the systematic regularity in rhythm.
Poetic Foot is the traditional rythmical unit in English poetry. This means: you do not count the syllables in a line but the feet. Each foot is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that is repeated in the line. Often the same foot type is repeated along the line.
The most common foot in English poetry is the iamb, which consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. In the line given as an example below there are five iambs one after the other and together they form the line. Notice how every iamb has one unstressed syllable (symbolized by U) and then one stressed syllable ( _ ).
Haiku: It has an unrhymed verse form having three lines (a tercet) and usually 5,7,5 syllables, respectively. It is of Japanese origin and often refers to a visual perception regarding nature.
Limerick: It is a very structured poem, usually humorous and a bit silly. It is composed of five lines.Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds, usually at the end of a line. Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line.
Meter is the systematic regularity in rhythm.
Poetic Foot is the traditional rythmical unit in English poetry. This means: you do not count the syllables in a line but the feet. Each foot is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that is repeated in the line. Often the same foot type is repeated along the line.
The most common foot in English poetry is the iamb, which consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. In the line given as an example below there are five iambs one after the other and together they form the line. Notice how every iamb has one unstressed syllable (symbolized by U) and then one stressed syllable ( _ ).
Today / a man / arrived / at six / o'clock
U _ / U _ / U _ / U _ / U _ /
As it is five iambs that form the line, this verse is called iambic pentametre, and is the most common in English poetry.
Blank Verse: If a poem has a metrical pattern but no rhyme, it is blank verse. Shakespeare used it often in his plays.
Modern poets sometimes do not follow any of these rules for poetry. They just keep some kind of rythm, but not necessarily with the traditional methods. Poetry that does not follow these rules is said to be free verse.
