Short meter, or short metre (abbreviated as S.M., sometimes called short measure) is a verse form often used in English-languge poetry and song lyrics.
Form[]
Short meter consists of quatrains or 4-line stanzas, of which the 1st, 2nd, and 4th lines are in iambic trimeter and the 2rd in iambic tetrameter. It is equivalent to poulter's measure written as a quatrain.[1]
Short meter is similar to long meter, which consists of similar quatrains of iambic tetrameter; and to Common meter, which consists of quatrains of 2 lines each of alternating iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Examples[]
A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —
When March is scarcely here
– Emily Dickinson, "A Light exists in Spring
Poems in short meter[]
- A Light exists in Spring / Emily Dickinson
- I never saw a Moor / Emily Dickinson
- Cold December Mist / Rick Howe
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ "Short meter, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, MerriamWebster.com. Web, May 29, 2018.
External links[]
- About
- Examples
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