Forms of Poems? Best Answer!?

Question: Forms of Poems!? Best Answer!!?

Hi! I need to know what the form of a poem is!? Please explain, an also what are the stressed syllables in these two lines:
She comes by night in fearsome flight
in garments black as pitch

Thank you sooooo much, and I will pick a best answer!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I don't understand the first part of your question (what it refers to I mean) -- there are many poetic forms: haiku, tanka, sonnet (Shakespearean or Petrarchan), villanelle, sestina, terza rima, limerick, clerihew, ode, etc!., etc!., many others, etc!. The form of a poem has to do with how many lines it has, how many syllables per line, what metrical foot it uses (iambic, trochaic, dactylic, spondee, dithyrhambic, or any of several others), whether it rhymes, (if it does, what the rhyme scheme is), and so on!.

For example, terza rima is a poem of any length, but with lines in multiples of three, in iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme of ABA, BCB, CDC, etc!. Dante's Inferno is written in terza rima form!.

The two lines you quote above are iambic -- the first would be quadrameter, which means there are 4 feet per line and the second trimeter, which means there are 3 feet per line!. That's actually a quite common pattern!. Each foot consists of a stressed/unstressed syllable pair!. The stressed syllables are the ones that have a heavier "beat" -- if you read the above aloud, really emphasizing where the beat falls, it will sound something like:

she COMES by NIGHT in FEARsome FLIGHT
in GARments BLACK as PITCH

(the syllables in ALL CAPS are the stressed syllables)

If you were asking what form that poem is in (I looked up the whole poem on the web), I don't think it's in any of the special named forms, but it's iambic, with stanzas of 4 lines each (quatrains), alternating between quadrameter (4 foot) and trimeter (3 foot) lines, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB!.

Hope all that's helpful and not too overwhelmingWww@QuestionHome@Com