Poems are written in lines. In metered poetry the line is the sum
of x number of rhythmic units. In free verse the lengths of lines
are determined by a variety of intentions such as ending lines
where syntactic units end, running lines across syntactic units,
stopping lines to coincide with punctuation, and using line
lengths to imitate physical effects. How quickly or slowly a
free-verse poem proceeds depends a good deal on whether lines
are enjambed (run on) or not, how long the lines are, and how
much variation there is among the line lengths. There are some
poems that are neither metrical nor free verse, they are syllabic:
The poet counts the number of syllables in a line and uses a pat-
tern based on syllable counts. A haiku is an example of a poem
organized according to the number of syllables per line.

Unlike prose, which travels automatically across the page until it
hits the right margin and then dutifully returns to the left margin, po-
etry moves across the page in lines that typically end well short of the
right margin. The length of these lines is carefully considered by the
poet because the line is the bearer of rhythm. The accents, sounds and
pauses all consort within the propulsive line that moves steadily for-
ward in time. Poetry always has been an oral art and the bards and re-
citers who once spoke and chanted their poems in Greek and Latin
and Gaelic and Spanish and Russian (among many languages) used
the line to help them keep time with a musical accompaniment, to
keep track of rhythms (so many accents or syllables to a line), and to

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