In literary language, the verse represents each line of poetry, which together form the stanza.
Poetry is a type of lyrical text that uses resources, for example, musicality, rhythm and rhymes to place greater emphasis on discourse.
Stanza
The set of verses is called a stanza, and the number of verses can vary in each stanza. Thus, according to the number of verses that make up the stanzas, they are classified into:
- Monostic : verse of 1 verse
- Couplet : 2 verse stanza
- Terceto : 3 verse stanza
- Quartet or Quadra : 4 verse stanza
- Quintilla : 5 verse stanza
- Sextilha : stanza of 6 verses
- Septilha : seven verse stanza
- Eighth : stanza of 8 verses
- Ninth : 9 verse stanza
- Tenth : 10 verse stanza
- Irregular : stanza with more than 10 verses
Difference Between Poetry and Prose
The poetry is a kind of lyrical text usually written in verse, which has metric, rhyme and rhythm.
In turn, prose is a text in the natural style, that is, it has no metrics and generally does not have rhymes or rhythm.
Although they are different in form, since poetry is formed by verses and the prose is a flowing text, the prose is divided into literary and non-literary prose.
Therefore, we can intuit that there are several literary texts in prose that present a certain lyricism, as in poetry, for example, novels, novels and chronicles that use figurative (connotative) language as the main expressive resource of literary language.
Classification of Verses
The composition of the verses can follow a metrification pattern, that is, present measurements for each verse.
Therefore, when the verses have equal measures, they are called isometric . In turn, when they have different measures, they are classified as heterometric , for example, the free verses (irregular, without measure).
Note that the syllables in the verses have a different metrification from the grammatical syllables. In such a way, according to the number of poetic syllables that have the verses are classified in:
- Monosyllable : a poetic syllable
- Dissyllable : two poetic syllables
- Trisyllable : three poetic syllables
- Tetrasyllable : four poetic syllables
- Pentassyllable or Minor Redondilla : five poetic syllables
- Hexassyllable : six poetic syllables
- Heptassyllable or Redondilha Maior : seven poetic syllables
- Octossyllable : eight poetic syllables
- Eneassyllable : nine poetic syllables
- Decasyllable : ten poetic syllables
- Hendecassílabo : eleven poetic syllables
- Dodecassyllable or Alexandrian : twelve poetic syllables
- Bárbaro verse: verse with more than twelve poetic syllables
Versification and Metrification
The versification is a term that means the art of composing verses through features like rhyme, rhythm and meter.
In turn, metrification points to the various measures of the verses, as listed above.
Note that the poetic or metric syllables are different from grammatical syllables, with “scansion” being the term used to indicate the counting of the verse sounds.
The syllables are counted up to the last stressed syllable of the verse, and when there are two or more vowels, unstressed or stressed, at the end of one word and the beginning of another, they merge, forming a single poetic syllable. To better understand this difference see the example below:
/ Poe / ta é / um / fin / gi / dor – 7 Literary syllables
O / po / e / ta / é / um / fin / gi / dor – 9 Grammatical syllables
Fin / ge / so / with / ple / ta / men / te – 7 Literary syllables
Fin / ge / so / with / ple / ta / men / te – 8 grammatical syllables
Examples of Verses
Below are two examples of verses: eneassyllables (example 1) and decassyllables verses (example 2):
Example 1
O warriors of the sacred Taba,
O Warriors of the Tupi Tribe,
Gods speak in the corners of Piaga,
O Warriors, I have heard my songs.Tonight – it was the moon already dead –
Anhangá prevented me from dreaming;
Here in the horrible cave I live in, a
hoarse voice started to call me.
(Excerpt from the poem “ O Canto do Piaga ” by Gonçalves Dias)
Example 2
“ Canto I
The weapons and the marked barons,
That of the western Lusitana beach,
For seas never sailed before,
Passed still beyond the Taprobana,
In dangers and struggled wars,
More than promised the human strength,
And among remote people they built
New Kingdom, that so much sublimated;