A verse is formally a single
metrical line in a
poetic composition. However, verse has come to represent any grouping of lines in a poetic composition, with groupings traditionally having been referred to as
stanzas.
Verse in the uncountable (
mass noun) sense refers to
poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
in contrast to
prose
Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
. Where the common unit of verse is based on
meter or
rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...
, the common unit of prose is purely grammatical, such as a
sentence or
paragraph
A paragraph () is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. Though not required by the orthographic conventions of any language with a writing system, paragraphs are a conventional means of organizing ...
.
Verse in the second sense is also used
pejoratively in contrast to poetry to suggest work that is too pedestrian or too incompetent to be classed as poetry.
Types of verse
Rhymed verse
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...
d verse is historically the most commonly used form of verse in English. It generally has a discernible meter and an end rhyme.
I felt a Cleaving 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 Sound
Like Balls – upon a Floor.
— Emily Dickinson
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in regular, metrical, but unrhymed, lines, almost always composed of
iambic pentameters.
Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater man
....
— John Milton (from '' Paradise Lost'')
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.
See also
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Strophe
References
Further reading
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Linguistics
Stanzaic form
Poetic rhythm