The VERSE of a poem: definition and EXAMPLES

Within literary genres, poetry is one of the main expressions in the lyrical genre. Throughout history it has been established as the preferred way to express emotions and ideas with a meticulous selection of words, rhythms and rhymes. Thus, poems have different parts that compose it. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will see what is the definition of a verse in a poem.

Index

1. What is a verse in a poem?
2. Types of verses in a poem
3. What is a stanza?
4. Main differences between verse and stanza
5. Example of verses and stanzas in a poem

We will begin by discovering the definition of a verse in a poem. The verses are the lines that make up a poem. In other words, they are the sentence or constituent part of this type of writing. They usually have a specific number of words and syllables, as well as endings to give rhyme and rhythm to the poem.

Example of poetic verses

For example, in this fragment of the poem Days against sleep by the Argentine writer Alejandra Pizarnik, each of the lines represents a verse:

Not wanting whites rolling

movable floor.

Not wanting voices stealing

aerial arched seedlings.

Not wanting to live a thousand oxygens

trifles crossed to heaven.

The verses are constructed with certain intentions, that is why classify. First of all, there are the verses that are written in order to generate a rhyme:

• Rhyming verse: It is the verse that its last syllable rhymes with the last syllable of another verse. For example, if our first verse ends in the word "song" and the next in the word "decoration", they would be rhymed lines.
• Single verse: It does not rhyme with any other verse; however, it can accompany or be in the middle of verses that do rhyme.
• White verse: They do not have rhyme, but they do have a certain measure, that is, a specific number of syllables.

Verses according to the metric

Second, we find the verses that focus on The metric, that is, the measure or the number of syllables that compose it:

• Minor art verses: has 8 syllables or less per line.
• Verses of major art: have 9 or more syllables per line.

To achieve this type of exact measurements, poets and female poets often use various poetic licenses that help them subtract or add syllables.

Now that we know the definition of the verse in a poem, let's talk about another important concept in lyric: the stanzas.

The RAE defines the stanza as:

"Each one of the compound parts of the same number of verses and ordered in the same way that some poetic compositions consist ”.

A) Yes, a stanza is the set of verses that make up a poem. But, unlike the definition of the RAE, with the evolution of poetry the stanzas no longer necessarily have the same number of verses. Poems can have one or multiple stanzas with a variety in the number of verses.

Stanza example

In itself, the stanza is elementary in a poem because it allows order and organization to be given to the poem. For example, Alejandra Pizarnik, in the poem Be colorless, she writes two stanzas to give it an order:

seam unlocking in my chaos daily humor

infinite chime striped harp

weeping corpses saline sea

your opacity will remove fountains of soap green

colored pennants

on the right hand of eaten nails

Types of stanzas

Generally, the stanzas are divided depending on the number of verses that compose them. Your classification it goes from those with two verses to fourteen. At the same time, within this typology it is taken into account if the verses rhyme, have a certain meter or rhythm.

The main factor that makes the difference between verse and stanza is that one composes the other. What does this mean? The verse as the basic unit of a poem is that part that constitutes and composes the stanzas. We could say that the stanzas organize the verses into groups. In this sense the verse and stanza they structure the poems at two different levels:

• The verse divides the poem and it makes sense when it is related to other verses. He is in charge of giving a rhythm, rhyme and meter to the text.
• The stanza groups the verses and allows to organize the poem in fragments that can vary in the amount of verses that compose it.

Let's take for examplethe following excerpt from the poem Nocturnal No. 3 in F major from the Colombian writer León de Greiff:

By the grace of the desolate night

the spirit now lies at rest.

As it is in vain, you do not want anything:

definitely, definitely dismissive.

By the grace of the night, which clings,

(and, thus, never) robes of blackness,

without hope the sad soul dreams

that nothing is cured.

As we can see, the extract has three stanzas. The first two of them have two verses each, the latter is composed of four verses. With this reference we can emphasize two main differences between verse and stanza:

• The verses are sets of words, while the stanzas are sets of verses.
• The verse is a line within a stanza, while a stanza is a paragraph within a poem.

If you want to read more articles similar to Verse from a poem: definition, we recommend that you enter our category of Literary concepts.

• Castillo, G. (s.f.). Metric notes. Santiago de Chile: Military School.
• Greiff, L. (2005). Anthology. Colombia: Universidad del Externado.
• Pizarnik, A. (1972). Complete Poetry.