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Accentual Verse




Nursery Rhymes are the most common form of Accentual verse in the English Language. 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)

Accentual verse derives its musical qualities from its flexibility with unstressed syllables and tends to follow the natural speech patterns of English.

Accentual-syllabic Verse is an extension of accentual verse.