Metrical Verse
The basic unit of metrical verse is called the foot. In English, a foot is determined by its count of stressed and unstressed syllables. The shortest feet are two syllables long; longer ones may be four or even more syllables.
Some common feet used in English verse include:
- the iamb (unstress, stress): often thought to be the most naturalistic or unmarked meter in English poetry, and used in much of Shakespeare’s work;
- the trochee (stress, unstress): trochaic verse is considered bouncy or driving, and is famously seen in William Blake’s poem The Tyger;
- the dactyl (stress, unstress, unstress): similarly rhythmically driven to trochaic verse, but in lengthier form, which makes it sound more naturalistic;
- the anapest (unstress, unstress, stress): in modern day anapestic meter is often seen in comic verse, such as in limericks or the works of Dr. Seuss, but it was historically used in formal poetry;
- the amphibrach (unstress, stress, unstress): poems are rarely composed entirely of amphibrachic verse, but it often appears for a few lines in an otherwise anapestic piece.
The length of a line is a measure of how many feet it contains. For example, iambic pentameter—five feet of two syllables each—has ten syllables per line; amphibrachic trimeter (often used for the longer lines of limericks) is three feet of three syllables each, and thus has nine syllables per line.
I have written in everything from strict trochaic trimeter (six syllables per line) to catalectic trochaic octameter (fifteen syllables per line), and am interested in writing formal verse of any style or length.
Read examples of my metrical verse here.
Sonnets
I am especially experienced with the sonnet. A poetic form composed of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, the first twelve lines of a sonnet rhyme in alternating pairs; the final two lines form a rhyming couplet.
Read examples of my sonnets here. I have also written a long poem in iambic pentameter, which is not a sonnet but shares many of the same metrical features. It can be read here.
Ghazals
The ghazal is an originally Arabic verse form which has been adapted to many other languages, including English. It is composed of a series of independent couplets.
Each couplet is meant to stand on its own, but in combination with the others creates an emotive picture. The second line of each couplet ends with an internal rhyme and the same final word; the first line of the first couplet uses them as well. The lines can be of any uniform length and meter.
I have written one ghazal, and am very interested in the opportunity to write more. It can be read here. This example is in iambic pentameter.
Free Verse
Poems that do not adhere to any specific metrical rules are referred to as free verse. In free verse, particular care must be paid to the style, sense, word choice, and line breaks of a poem, as it has no formal strictures to constrain it. This also permits the poet free expression without being beholden to any particular meter or rhyme scheme, and allows for experimentation with form.
Read examples of my free verse here.