| Literature |
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Major forms
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Novel · Poem · Drama |
| Genres |
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Epic · Lyric · Drama |
| Media |
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Performance (play) · Book |
| Techniques |
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Prose · Verse |
| History and lists |
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Basic topics · Literary terms |
| Discussion |
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza.
The word "verse" is commonly used in lieu of "poetry" to distinguish it from prose. Where the common unit of poetry, i.e., verse, is based on meter or rhyme the common unit of prose is purely grammatical, such as a sentence or paragraph.[1]
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Types of verse
Rhymed verse
Rhymed verse is the most commonly used form of verse and generally has a discernable meter and an end rhyme.
I felt a cleavage in my mind
As if my brain had split;
I tried to match it, seam by seam,
But could not make them fit.
The thought behind I strove to join
Unto the thought before,
But sequence ravelled out of reach
Like balls upon a floor.
-Emily Dickinson
Blank verse
Blank verse is generally identified by a regular meter, but no end rhyme.
In Mathematics, Woman leads the way:
The narrow-minded pedant still believes
That two and two make four! Why, we can prove,
We women-household drudges as we are-
That two and two make five-or three-or seven;
Or five-and-twenty, if the case demands!
-from Princess Ida
Free verse
Free verse is usually defined as having no fixed meter and no end rhyme. Although free verse may include end rhyme, it commonly does not.
Whirl up, sea--
Whirl your pointed pines,
Splash your great pines
On our rocks,
Hurl your green over us,
Cover us with your pools of fir.
-H.D.
References
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
