Verse
Literary term · say it VURS
Verse is writing arranged in lines rather than continuous paragraphs, often with a pattern of rhythm or rhyme. It can tell stories, express feelings, or carry dialogue in plays, and it does not have to rhyme.
Three common kinds of verse
Rhymed verse
Rhymed verse uses matching sounds, usually at the ends of lines. These sounds may follow a repeating pattern.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the sailor describes his ship trapped in ice before the albatross arrives. Rhyming lines help give his story its songlike movement.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Blank verse
Blank verse has a regular meter but no rhyme. In English, it usually has five pairs of syllables per line, with the stronger beat falling second in each pair.
In Macbeth, Macbeth imagines a dagger before him as he prepares to kill Duncan. His speech follows a largely regular beat without a pattern of end rhymes.
In Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Free verse
Free verse follows no fixed pattern of meter or rhyme. Its line lengths, pauses, and repeated phrases can still give it a strong rhythm.
In Leaves of Grass, the speaker of Song of Myself pauses to consider a child's question about grass. The passage moves through lines of varied length without a fixed rhyme pattern.
In Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
How to spot verse
- Look for deliberate line breaks rather than continuous paragraphs.
- Listen for repeated beats, matching sounds, or recurring phrases.
- Notice whether line lengths follow a pattern or vary freely.
What is the difference between verse and prose?
Verse is arranged in lines, while prose usually runs in sentences and paragraphs. Verse may use regular meter or rhyme, but neither is required. Prose can also have strong rhythms and vivid images, so those features alone do not make it verse.
Does verse mean the same thing as a stanza?
Verse can mean a stanza in everyday speech, especially when discussing songs, but its broader literary meaning is writing arranged in lines. A stanza is a group of lines within a poem, often separated from other groups by a blank space.
Related terms
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