For Better for Verse: An interactive learning tool that can help you understand what makes metered poetry in English tick.

Link to U.Va. English Department

Enoch Arden(1859)

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Long lines of cliff breaking have left a chasm;
MeterLong lines of cliff breaking have left a chasm;
And in the chasm are foam and yellow sands;
MeterAnd in the chasm are foam and yellow sands;
Beyond red roofs about a narrow wharf
MeterBeyond red roofs about a narrow wharf
In cluster; then a mouldered church; and higher
MeterIn cluster; then a mouldered church; and higher
A long street climbs to one tall-towered mill;
MeterA long street climbs to one tall-towered mill;
And high in heaven behind it a gray down
MeterAnd high in heaven behind it a gray down
With Danish barrows; and a hazelwood,
MeterWith Danish barrows; and a hazelwood,
By autumn nutters haunted, flourishes
MeterBy autumn nutters haunted, flourishes
Green in a cuplike hollow of the down.
MeterGreen in a cuplike hollow of the down.

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