Versification, art of making verses, or the theory of the phonetic

structure of verse. This theory considers the phonetic

characteristics of verse both as absolute elements and as relative
to the other, nonphonetic elements of verse.

Theoretically, any phonetic characteristics of a language, such as

the number of syllables in an utterance, the degrees of energy or
lengths of time taken to utter them, or even their pitch, may be
organized into an orderly and symmetrical pattern. The study of
versification in the poetry of different languages and periods must
take account of these possibilities.

II. English Versification

In the English language the basic system of versification is known

as accentual-syllabic. In this system the constituents of the
fundamental pattern of versification are the number of syllables
to the line of verse and the arrangement of these syllables
according to whether they are pronounced with a greater or
lesser degree of energy–that is, whether they are accented or
unaccented. Thus, in English poetry of almost all periods, the
verse structure is created both by the fixed or varying numbers of
syllables per line and by the constant alternation of accented and
unaccented syllables in definite, recurring sequences within each
line.

A. The Foot

In accentual-syllabic versification the basic unit of measurement

is known as the foot. The foot consists of one accented syllable
accompanied by one or two unaccented syllables. According to
the particular pattern chosen, the accented syllable may precede
or follow either one or two unaccented syllables in a regularly
recurring sequence throughout the line, as in the following
example, in which the accented syllables are marked ', the
unaccented are marked , and the divisions between the units of
accented and unaccented syllables are marked /.

In each foot of the example above, one unaccented syllable

precedes one accented syllable. This type of foot, called the iamb
or iambic foot, is the most common in English verse. The other
principal types of foot found in English verse are

B. The Line

In addition to accent, the number of syllables to a line is an

important determinant of the theoretical pattern of English verse.
This syllabic pattern, or meter, is usually expressed in terms of
the number of feet to a line. The example given previously
contains five feet and is known therefore as a pentameter (Greek
penta,"five") line. Iambic pentameter is the most common type of
verse line in English. Other types of line frequently encountered
in English verse are

These lines are illustrated in the accompanying table of the

principal versification systems.

Although each line of a poem often contains the same number of

feet, poets also employ lines varying in length either according to
a definite scheme or, less frequently, according to expressive
need.

C. Rhyme

Another and more obvious way to create a pattern among the

various lines of a poem is by the use of rhyme, or identity of
sound. Most poems make use of end rhyme–that is, identity of
sound at the ends of lines.

Rhyme is established between two or more words or phrases in

respect to the vowel of the last accented syllable and to all the
sounds following this vowel. Thus, for example, lines rhyme if
they end in oar and more, or in table and fable, or in tenderly and
slenderly. All of these are so-called perfect rhymes. Imperfect, or
slant, rhymes are those in which the phonetic identity is not
complete, as in love and remove. Such rhymes are sometimes
used to avoid monotony or to support some other purpose in a
poem; occasionally they are used as part of a regular pattern.
Similarly, internal rhyme–that is, rhyme partly or wholly within
the line–is not a regular constituent; it is used to vary the pattern
of groups of lines. The following is an example of internal rhyme:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Rhyme is found commonly in almost all periods of English verse.

A notable form, which was used as early as the 14th century by
Geoffrey Chaucer and which became very popular in the late 17th
and 18th centuries, is the couplet, a recurring unit of two
successive rhymed lines:

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of mankind is man.

Couplets of iambic pentameter, like the above, are the most

frequent in English, but iambic tetrameter couplets were popular
in the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) and are used in
modern times. They are called octosyllabic couplets (Greek
okto,"eight"), because each line has eight syllables:

For his Religion it was fit

To match his learning and his wit.

Not all English verse is rhymed. A notable type of unrhymed

verse often used in English is blank verse, unrhymed lines of
iambic pentameter. It is the basic type of verse found in the plays
of William Shakespeare and in the epic poems of John Milton.

D. The Stanza

When the pattern of rhymes, or rhyme scheme, extends beyond

two or sometimes three lines, the entire group of rhymed lines is
called a stanza. In poems containing more than one stanza, the
pattern of the first stanza is usually, although not invariably,
repeated in each succeeding one. The rhyme scheme of any
stanza is commonly indicated by a series of letters, in which each
recurring rhyme is designated by one letter, as in this example, in
which the rhyme scheme is abab:
At daybreak on the hill they stood

That overlooked the moor,

And thence they saw the bridge of wood,

A furlong from their door.

Stanzas may be composed of lines of the same length or of

varying length, as in the example above, in which iambic
tetrameters alternate with iambic trimeters. Stanzas of four lines,
like this one, are called quatrains; when the rhyme scheme and
line lengths are as above, the stanzas are called ballad stanzas,
because many English and Scottish ballads follow this form.

Other traditional stanzaic patterns are used in English verse.

Terza rima, a verse form consisting of three-line stanzas in the
rhyme scheme aba, bcb,cdc, etc., was used in The Divine
Comedy by Italian poet Dante and later by English poets.
Quatrains sometimes are arranged in other rhyme schemes, such
as abba. A stanza of seven iambic pentameter lines rhyming
ababbcc, known as rhyme royal, was frequently used by Chaucer
and his followers and was often imitated by later poets. Ottava
rima, an eight-line stanza rhyming abababcc borrowed from
Italian verse by English poets of the Renaissance (14th century to
17th century), subsequently became highly popular. The
Spenserian stanza of nine lines rhyming ababbcbcc is used
throughout The Faerie Queene (Books I-III, 1590; Books IV-VI,
1596) by Edmund Spenser and was imitated occasionally by
poets of the romantic period (1750-1870). The sonnet, perhaps
the most popular stanza form in English poetry, almost invariably
contains 14 lines of iambic pentameter.

E. Variable Elements

The actual appeal of verse to the ear depends only in part on the
regular, theoretical patterns of syllables, accents, and rhyme.
Even if it were possible in the English language to produce an
unvarying pattern in which all of the accents had the same
strength, poets would consider such a pattern monotonous and
would avoid it. The degree and kind of departures from and
additions to the basic patterns of verse vary widely from poet to
poet; such variations contribute to the richness and diversity of
the English poetic tradition.

1. Stress

Among the possible variations and nonpatterned effects, one of

the most important is stress, or differentiation in the degree of
accent. Some phoneticians claim that four degrees of stress are
distinguished by ordinary speakers of English; others claim that
only two degrees are meaningful to speakers and attended to by
them. It is usually assumed by students of poetry, however, that
degrees of stress intermediate between fully accented and
unaccented syllables in a line of verse are important to its verbal
music. Thus in the iambic pentameter line

accents 2, 4, and 5 are strongest, 1 is weaker, and 3 is weakest.

Reading this line with approximately equal stress on each
accented syllable produces a monotonous, singsong effect and
puts an unnatural emphasis on the less important words Amid
and on. Most good English poets produce an interplay between
the natural stresses of speech and the basic verse pattern.

Another and more obvious kind of variation in stress is produced

by occasionally introducing an extra syllable or a foot differing
from the regular ones in the line. In the following example, in
which the theoretical pattern is iambic pentameter, the third is
made an anapest by introducing a second accented syllable, and
one more unaccented syllable is added beyond the regular
pattern at the end of the line:

A line ending with an unaccented syllable is said to be feminine.

Lines ending in accented syllables are called masculine. In the
following line, also iambic pentameter in pattern, the accent
patterns of the first and second feet are reversed, producing two
trochees:
Two accented syllables or two unaccented syllables may also be
substituted for a conventional iamb or trochee. A foot of two
accented syllables is called a spondee, as in the first three feet of
this example, in which the theoretical pattern is actually iambic
pentameter:

A foot of two unaccented syllables is called a pyrrhic foot, as in

the fourth foot below:

The most extreme departure from the theoretical stress-pattern

of English verse is free verse, which is composed in lines of
irregular length, according to expressive need, but approximating
the balanced cadences of music.

2. Pause

Apart from degrees and shifts of stress, another kind of variation

from the theoretical pattern must be accounted for in terms of
the length and phonetic character of the pauses, or intervals,
between syllables of verse. Almost any particular line of iambic
pentameter, no matter how regular, will depart slightly in rhythm
from the absolutely regular pattern that can be produced by
uttering "da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum da-dum."
Phoneticians have discovered that the character of the interval
between syllables depends as much on variations in the pitch of
the voice just before and just after the pause as it does on the
time interval itself. Traditionally, however, poets, hearers, and
readers have thought of this interval simply in terms of time. A
strong pause in a line is called a caesura, indicated by double
bars in the following lines of iambic pentameter:

Not marble, / / nor the gilded monuments

Of princes, / / shall outlive this powerful rime.

When the pause comes at the end of the line, the line is said to
be end-stopped, as in the second line above. When the sense of
the poetic statement continues from one line into the next,
however, so that no pause occurs at the line end, the first line, as
in the example above, is said to be a run-on, or enjambed, line.
Enjambment offers yet another opportunity for variation and can
be used to counterpoint a poem's metric pattern against its
syntactic units. The tension and complex interplay created when a
syntactic unit does not coincide with a ten-syllable line unit is
especially featured in blank verse.

3. Sound Quality

Like the variations in the stress of syllables and in the character

of the intervals between them, a third factor independent of the
theoretical pattern becomes very important to its enrichment.
This factor is vowel and consonant quality. In general the quality
or coloration of sounds has much to do with the effect of a line or
of a poem in ways that have not been fully investigated. Harsh
sounds, for instance, like the word harsh itself, may suggest pain
or effort; soft ones, like the word pure, may suggest joy or
peace. Specifically, however, the patterns resulting from
resemblances between vowel and consonant sounds are based
upon traditional or conventional interpretations.

The repetition of the same sounds in the first syllables, or first

accented syllables, of words is called alliteration:

Looking and loving our behaviors pass

The stones, the steels and the polished glass,

The repetition of the same stressed vowel sounds with different

consonants is called assonance:

And all the summer through the water saunter.

Here the n-sound in saunter prevents the two words from

rhyming perfectly, which would spoil the effect.

The repetition of consonantal sounds when the vowel sounds

differ is called consonance:

And feed deep, deep upon her peerless

eyes.
The use of sounds that supposedly echo or suggest the meaning
is called onomatopoeia:

The moan of doves in immemorial elms.

Finally, rhyme, which was discussed as part of the theoretical

pattern of English verse, is of extreme importance in contributing
to the sound quality of poetry.

III. Other Systems of Versification

Other systems of versification include the quantitative, the

syllabic, and the accentual.

A. Quantitative Versification

The versification of classical Greek and Latin poetry is said to be

quantitative because its main principle of patterning is the length
of time taken to utter syllables, in contradistinction to the stress,
or degrees of energy with which they are uttered, as in English.
In the typical foot of a dactylic hexameter, for example (see Latin
example in the accompanying table), the first syllable is thought
of as being longer than the other two and not as being accented
more strongly than the others. End rhyme was not used in such
verse.

B. Syllabic Versification

The Romance languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish, and

Portuguese, make use of another system of versification that
probably developed in part from a Late Latin or Vulgar Latin
model (see  Latin Language). This system is called syllabic
because within the line the number of syllables, and not their
accent or length, is the most important factor. In French poetry
the line most often used is the alexandrine, which contains 12
syllables with a caesura after the sixth syllable. Although the line
is not constructed on a pattern of accents, two basic stresses are
felt. These stresses fall on the final syllable of the line and on the
syllable preceding the caesura (see accompanying table). End
rhyme is a frequent feature of Romance-language verse. In all
probability the features of syllable counting and rhyme in English
verse are a heritage from French and Italian verse.
C. Accentual Versification

The verse of the ancient Germanic peoples, including Old English

verse, was accentual. Four stress accents are distributed through
each line of Old English verse, but the number of unaccented
syllables to the line is not fixed, so that a variable number of
unaccented syllables, or none, may intervene between stresses
(see accompanying table). Furthermore, alliteration in two or
three of the four stresses per line, another invariable feature of
this verse, was both a guide to the accent and an embellishment.

Accentual verse remained popular in English as late as the 15th

century. It exhibited end rhyme only in the later phases of its
history, when its rules had become considerably relaxed. Stress
accent remained as a feature of later English versification, but
alliteration usually remained only as an occasional, nonstructural
feature. When on the French and Italian model, the total number
of syllables, or feet, to the line became significant in English
verse, the present accentual-syllabic system was established and
the accentual system dropped out of use, except for occasional
experimentation, as in Christabel (1816) by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge or the "sprung rhythm" developed by Gerard Manley
Hopkins.