What is "verse"

Verse \Verse\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Versed; p. pr. & vb. n. Versing.] To tell in verse, or poetry. [Obs.]

Playing on pipes of corn and versing love.
--Shak.

Verse \Verse\, v. i. To make verses; to versify. [Obs.]

It is not rhyming and versing that maketh a poet.
--Sir P. Sidney.

Verse \Verse\, n. [OE. vers, AS. fers, L. versus a line in writing, and, in poetry, a verse, from vertere, versum, to turn, to turn round; akin to E. worth to become: cf. F. vers. See Worth to become, and cf. Advertise, Averse, Controversy, Convert, Divers, Invert, Obverse, Prose, Suzerain, Vortex.]

1. A line consisting of a certain number of metrical feet (see Foot, n., 9) disposed according to metrical rules.

   Note: Verses are of various kinds, as hexameter, pentameter, tetrameter, etc., according to the number of feet in each. A verse of twelve syllables is called an Alexandrine. Two or more verses form a stanza or strophe.

2. Metrical arrangement and language; that which is composed in metrical form; versification; poetry.

   Such prompt eloquence Flowed from their lips in prose or numerous verse.
   --Milton.

   Virtue was taught in verse.
   --Prior.

   Verse embalms virtue.
   --Donne.

3. A short division of any composition. Specifically:

   1. A stanza; a stave; as, a hymn of four verses.

      Note: Although this use of verse is common, it is objectionable, because not always distinguishable from the stricter use in the sense of a line.

   2. (Script.) One of the short divisions of the chapters in the Old and New Testaments.

      Note: The author of the division of the Old Testament into verses is not ascertained. The New Testament was divided into verses by Robert Stephens [or Estienne], a French printer. This arrangement appeared for the first time in an edition printed at Geneva, in 1551.

   3. (Mus.) A portion of an anthem to be performed by a single voice to each part.

4. A piece of poetry. ``This verse be thine.''
   --Pope.

   Blank verse, poetry in which the lines do not end in rhymes.

   Heroic verse. See under Heroic.

late Old English (replacing Old English fers, an early West Germanic borrowing directly from Latin), "line or section of a psalm or canticle," later "line of poetry" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French and Old French vers "line of verse; rhyme, song," from Latin versus "a line, row, line of verse, line of writing," from PIE root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). The metaphor is of plowing, of "turning" from one line to another (vertere = "to turn") as a plowman does.\n\nVerse was invented as an aid to memory. Later it was preserved to increase pleasure by the spectacle of difficulty overcome. That it should still survive in dramatic art is a vestige of barbarism.

[Stendhal "de l'Amour," 1822]

[Natalie Curtis-Burlin, "Negro Folk-Songs," 1918]

Etymology 1 n. 1 A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme. 2 Poetic form in general. 3 One of several similar units of a song, consisting of several lines, generally rhymed. 4 A small section of the Jewish or Christian Bible. vb. 1 (context obsolete English) To compose verses. 2 (context transitive English) To tell in verse, or poetry. Etymology 2

vb. to educate about, to teach about. Etymology 3

vb. (context colloquial English) To oppose, to be an opponent for, as in a game, contest or battle.

1. n. literature in metrical form [syn: poetry, poesy]

2. a piece of poetry [syn: rhyme]

3. a line of metrical text [syn: verse line]

4. v. compose verses or put into verse; "He versified the ancient saga" [syn: versify, poetize, poetise]

5. familiarize through thorough study or experience; "She versed herself in Roman archeology"

Verse may refer to:

Verse is an American hardcore punk band from Providence, Rhode Island. They released three full-length albums and an EP on Rivalry and Bridge 9 Records and conducted a number of full U.S. tours.

The band broke up in 2009, but reformed in December 2011.

Bassist Chris Berg played in Mountain Man, which features former members Patrick Murphy (Drums) and Jesse Menard (Guitar) of Last Lights and I Rise.

In the countable sense, a verse is formally a single metrical line in a poetic composition. However, verse has come to represent any division or grouping of words in a poetic composition, with groupings traditionally having been referred to as stanzas.

In the uncountable ( mass noun) sense verse refers to " poetry" as contrasted to prose. Where the common unit of verse is based on meter or rhyme, the common unit of prose is purely grammatical, such as a sentence or paragraph.

In the second sense verse is also used pejoratively in contrast to poetry to suggest work that is too pedestrian or too incompetent to be classed as poetry.

Verse is a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Verse is a 2009 Bolivian film, starring Mirtha Elena Pardo and directed by Alejandro Pereyra.