Accentual verse is poetry built on a set number of stressed beats, or accents, in each line rather than a fixed number of syllables. The unstressed syllables can vary, so the line length may change while the beat pattern stays steady. This kind of verse is often heard in nursery rhymes, ballads, and older English poetry.
It is common in languages that are stress-timed such as English as opposed to syllabic verse, which is common in syllable-timed languages such as classical Latin. Nursery Rhymes are the most common form of Accentual verse in the English Language.
Example
Each winter wind
beats at the window
with a low, hard drum,
while the house keeps still.
The following poem, Baa Baa Black Sheep, has two stresses in each line, but a varying number of syllables.
(Bold represents stressed syllables, and the number of syllables in each line is noted)
- Baa, baa, black sheep, (4)
- Have you any wool? (5)
- Yes sir, yes sir, (4)
- Three bags full; (3)
- One for the mas-ter, (5)
- And one for the dame, (5)
- And one for the lit-tle boy (7)
- Who lives down the lane. (5)