Verse

(vŭrs.) [ L. versus.] (Poetry.) A line, or a part of the composition which contains all the cadences, ., found in it. The harmony of every verse is complete in itself. Verses are made up of feet, the number and species of which constitute the character of the verse, as hexameter, pentameter, . In the Greek and Roman versification, a foot was determined by its quantity; in the English, quantity is supplied by accent.-Blank verse, poetry in which the lines do not end in rhymes. Heroic verse, that appropriated to epic or heroic poetry: in Greek and Latin, the hexameter; in English, ., the iambic of ten syllables, either with or without the additional short syllable; in French, the iambic of twelve syllables.- Versification is the art of adjusting the syllables, and forming them into harmonious measure. See POETRY. [s. 936]