poetry question

[Oniw17]

Is there a name for a poem with a constant meter of 8 syllables? I'm only asking because it seems easier to rhyme vowel sounds and still form coherent thoughts with exactly 8 syllables than with any other number. Is this the case or do I have some weird bias?

[IrishMark]

Hi Oniw17,
the metre is called tetrameter, i.e. four feet of stressed and unstressed syllables per line, but there the form would depend on other aspects, such as the number of lines per stanza etc...
also I disagree that this makes the rhyming easier, but that could just be me.
finally, your signature is self-contradictory.
Mark

[Dark Muse]

There are a few styles of poems that have an 8 syllable count throughout.

[JBI]

It would be called an 8 syl. line, unless it was written in feet, in which case we would probably call it, as the above posters said, iambic tetrameter, or, very rarely, trochaic tetrameter. Though, keep this in mind, a line of tetrameter can have 9 syl. if the poet decides to end on a headless syl. Either way though, for a line that is just 8 syl. and not written in feet, there is no exact word in English, according to my 2002 OED, though the proper neologism would be something like octasyllabic.

For the definite book on verse forms and meter, this book is probably the best:
http://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Designs-Introduction-Meters-Figures/dp/1551111292/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219518100&sr=8-1
if you can find it from your library, and are interested in poetry, that is probably still the most complete introduction.

[Oniw17]

Thank you al for your answers


finally, your signature is self-contradictory.
Mark

That's why it's my signature.