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10/5/2019 10:44:25 PM Regina McIntosh Posts: 12	Hi. I understand what Blank Verse is, I believe... but have trouble telling if my syllables are in the correct form (meter). I'm used to just writing free verse and am so unsure of writing metered verse which is, from my understanding, what blank verse requires. This poem is for the new contest, but I'd like it critiqued to see if it meets the standards... could someone just explain the "meter" to me so I can edit it with the correct meter needed to be blank verse? Thanks to anyone who helps Romans 6:23 King James Version (KJV) 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin comes in many vivid colors Lies of brightest purple and aqua Adulteries of both blue and red Anger that has hues of green to dread Sin happens when a heart goes off course Toward a mischief that leaves brokenness Amid the feelings there are atrocities That can only come from the discrepancies Sin opens its arms to those who hurt someone With betrayals and jealousies that always hurt And great advantages in the world of distrust Where there are so many of us living in lusts Sin tries its utmost to look like an innocent Fills minds with reasons it invents to do it Whatever life brings you can know its truth Comes from lies told by that evil one’s desires Sin rests upon the soul who never repents Refusing to seek forgiveness or absolution It hopes to take the sinner straight to hell Where it will forever be with them in the fire Sin tries to tell you that you can’t be sorry And come to the only one who can forgive you Provide mercy to your yearning heart and soul So that you know the One who forgives us all Sin doesn’t want you to regret what you’ve done It would rather you contemplate your demise But God doesn’t want you to live with the pain He grants you a second chance with rebirth in Christ edited by ReginaRiddle on 10/5/2019 edited by ReginaRiddle on 10/5/2019
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10/11/2019 4:48:47 PM Jack Webster Posts: 255	Meter is composed of metric feet. In pure meter, a metric foot will always have at least 2 syllables - therefore, in pure meter the number of syllables in a line will always be an even number, because it is made up of units of two syllables each. Some of your lines have 9 syllables, some have 11. A pure metric foot will always have no more than one stressed syllable. It may have one or two unstressed syllables. In pure meter you chose a metric foot and use it to build the line, without altering the foot. For example An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable: remark, a toad, robust, the mail - are all examples of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, so they are iambs. If you have only 1 iamb it is called iambic mono-meter; if you have 2 iambs it is called iambic di-meter; if you have 3 iambs it is called iambic tri-meter; if you have 4, it is called iambic tetra-meter; if you have 5, it is called iambic penta-meter; etc... So, if you decided you wanted you to use 10 syllables in each line, you might choose iambic pentameter: 5 iambs eaching having 2 syllables gives 10 syllables each line: The sleepy cat decided napping’s fun. If you do not observe a standard pattern of syllables and stresses, it cannot be said you are using meter at all because there will be no evidence you’ve composed the line using metric units.
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10/11/2019 4:52:21 PM Jack Webster Posts: 255	This is a VERY basic explaination. There are other metric feet besides the iamb, and there are many metric flourishes that break the rules of pure meter to produce artistic effect. A poem does not have be pure meter to be metric, but it must observe the rules of meter all the same.
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