Poetry vs. Storytelling

I have a theory: we enjoy a Shakespeare production more when there is a balance between poetry and storytelling. I feel that Shakespeare's poetry should support the story, and that Shakespeare isn't really Shakespeare without the poetry. It's becoming very popular to rid Shakespeare's plays of poetry (or to "translate" them to contemporary English altogether), in an attempt to make them more accessible. While accessibility is certainly important, I feel that by utilizing the poetry in Shakespeare's text effectively, we can provide the audience with a more rich experience, while still telling the story. It's all about balance.

Too much emphasis on the poetry makes for more of a recitation than a play. 'cause WHEN you SEE a PLAY where ALL the AC-tors SPEAK like THIS, it ALL gets VE-ry TIRE-some AF-ter ON-ly SEC-onds, SEE? These tools should be to assist in telling the story, not distracting from it. In Much Ado About Nothing, the play is very much in prose until Claudio and Don Pedro begin to speak of love. The shift to verse when matters of the heart are being discussed doesn't need to be overwrought for the audience to feel the new groove. The rhythms support the text; characters in love often speak in verse because these feelings are too big for the everyday prose they may otherwise use. Likewise, if a character starts rhyming, they may be doing so to impress another character or the audience with their wit, or even to annoy another character. 

Image: Tee Public

Neglecting poetry in favor of the plot negates the whole reason the play was written in this beautiful language and rhythms and rhymes in the first place. There are countless ways to make a love-sick teen named Romeo fall for a headstrong girl named Juliet. The fact that their first lines to each other form a sonnet is simply divine! Why? Because NO ONE SPEAKS IN SONNETS SPONTANEOUSLY IN REAL LIFE. That's a big part of what makes it magical. If you take the poetry out of the equation, then what is truly special to show the audience that these two are meant to be? "Hey, girl" doesn't cut it.

The goal is to give the story the spotlight and to use the poetry as the structure to tell this tale. Here are some questions to help you determine your path through the poetry:

Do the characters know they are speaking in verse?

If they are rhyming?

If they are using a lot of metaphors?

Are the words they're speaking spontaneous, or have they been well-rehearsed for this much-anticipated moment?

Is their alliteration proving their intellect, or is it a fun coincidence that they realize after the fact, or are they oblivious? 

These are just some of the ways we can use the poetry of Shakespeare to help support the story. What ways do you use Shakespeare's poetry to help tell the story? Let me know in the comments!

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Breaking Down the Bard VIDEO - Verse vs Prose

Do you know how to tell the difference between verse and prose?

This is something that trips a lot of people up, but my quick, minute-long video shows you how to tell the difference INSTANTLY. Check it out!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Dactyls

A dactyl is not a dinosaur - but "dinosaur" is a dactyl!

A dactyl is a metric foot in poetry that is one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. You could also think of this like a musical triplet. 

 

 

 

Some words that are dactylic all by themselves are:

Endlessly

Cabbages

Murmuring

President

Mockingbird

Hamilton

... and...

You guessed it: Dinosaur.

Take a look at these dactylic lines of verse, where I've shown the line first as it would appear in a script, followed by how I would scan it:

Julia (The Two Gentlemen of Verona)

Trampling contemptuously on thy disdain

TRAMP-ling con-TEMP-tous-ly ON thy dis DAIN

 

*Pronounce "contemptuously" con - TEMP - chuss - lee to keep it four syllables.

Titania (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

I am a spirit of no common rate

I am a SPI-rit of NO com-mon RATE

Claudius (Hamlet)

Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go.

 

MAD-ness in GREAT ones must NOT un-watch'd GO.

There is usually more than one way to scan a line of verse. A lot of people would make Titania's line perfect iambic pentameter:

i AM a SPI-rit OF no COM-mon RATE

And while that is completely acceptable, I really like the choice of dactyls for this line. Midsummer is a play that is largely in perfect iambic pentameter, so looking for opportunities to utilize other rhythms and shake it up is a good idea. This is especially powerful here, where Titania might be showing her magical abilities to impress Bottom, who is trying to escape the woods while she is willing him to stay.

Making Julia's line dactylic can help to emphasize the physical action of her stomping all over the torn pieces of the letter she has received. Also, attempting to make this line perfect iambic pentameter sounds really strange:

tramp-LING con-TEMP-tous-LY on THY dis-DAIN

Nope. It's weird. So is Claudius' line:

mad-NESS in GREAT ones MUST not UN-watch'd GO.

Dactyls are pretty frequent in Shakespeare's verse, so when you see a line that can't be perfect iambic pentameter, check to see if it could be dactylic instead!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Sonnets

If you've ever wondered what a sonnet is, I'm gonna break it down for you right now!

Simply put, a sonnet is a type of poem, following a set structure. There are many kinds of sonnets (which this Wikipedia article details). It doesn't necessarily have to be about love, but a lot of them are, because love is a wonderfully rich and complicated topic! We're going to look at the type of sonnet Shakespeare is famous for, called the English Sonnet, the Elizabethan* Sonnet, or the Shakespearean Sonnet.

*Elizabeth I was Queen of England during much of Shakespeare's life, and he wrote many plays and poems during the Elizabethan era.

 

 

The basic structure for this type of sonnet is three quatrains and a couplet - click the links if you missed those or need a reminder. This type of sonnet is typically in iambic pentameter and has a total of fourteen lines. One way to think of the rhyme scheme is this:

- - - - - - - - A

- - - - - - - - B

- - - - - - - - A

- - - - - - - - B

- - - - - - - - - C

- - - - - - - - - D

- - - - - - - - - C

- - - - - - - - - D

- - - - - - - - - - E

- - - - - - - - - - F

- - - - - - - - - - E

- - - - - - - - - - F

- - - - - - - - - - - G

- - - - - - - - - - - G

Let's look at Sonnet 91:

 

 

And here's the same sonnet, but I've shown where the quatrains and the couplet each start and end:

 

 

In the first quatrain, we see that "skill" in the first line rhymes with "ill" in the third line, and "force" in the second line rhymes with "horse" in the fourth. This is contrasted by the couplet that ends the sonnet, where two lines immediately rhyme with each other, "take" and "make".

Another noteworthy Sonnet by Shakespeare is in Romeo and Juliet. The very first time the young lovers speak to each other, they share lines that form a sonnet! Check it out:

 

 

Here, I've marked the structure so that you can easily see the Sonnet form that's hidden in Act I, Scene 5:

 

 

I think it's really cool that Shakespeare had his two star-crossed lovers so on the same page that they could improvise a Sonnet together at their very first meeting!

Shakespeare is not the only person to try his hand at the Elizabethan Sonnet - in fact, many others did, too - but he wrote at least 154 of them, and now you know what makes them tick!

What's your favorite sonnet? Let me know in the comments!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Quatrains

Last week on Breaking Down the Bard, I explained couplets, or two lines of verse in a row which have an ending rhyme. This week, we'll be looking at another popular rhyme structure in Shakespeare's works: quatrains.

Luciana (The Comedy of Errors)
If you did wed my sister for her wealth,
Then for her wealth's sake, use her with more kindness:
Or if you like elsewhere, do it by stealth,
Muffle your false love with some show of blindness

See how "wealth" rhymes with "stealth" in the first and third lines, and "kindness" with "blindness" in the second and fourth lines? These four lines of alternating ending rhymes make a quatrain.

Here's another way to visualize it:
___________ A
______________B
____________A
______________B   

Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Fair love, you faint with wand'ring in the wood:
And to speak troth I have forgot our way.
We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good,
And tarry for the comfort of the day.

Getting the hang of this? "Wood" rhymes with "good," and "way" rhymes with "day."

Quatrains can even be shared among characters:

Romeo (Romeo and Juliet)
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?

Juliet
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

Romeo
O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do,
They pray - grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. 

Romeo and Juliet are so in tune with each other that they can rhyme while they flirt! 

Now you can identify what a quatrain is, and you're going to impress everyone when you're doing tablework for your next show!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Couplets

There are two main styles of poetic rhyming that we find in Shakespeare's verse: couplets and quatrains. Being able to easily and quickly identify them will make you look like an absolute rock star in any cold-reading audition, and give you opportunities for some really fun choices.

Today, we're going to look at couplets, sometimes called "rhyming couplets" (which is redundant, but whatever), or "heroic couplets". A couplet is where the endings of two lines of verse in a row rhyme with each other. For example:

Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?

When at your hand did I deserve such scorn?

Claudius (Hamlet)

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.

Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

Luciana (The Comedy of Errors)

Gaze when you should, and that will clear your sight.

Antipholus of Syracuse

As good to wink, sweet love, as look on night.

See that? "Born" rhymes with "scorn", "below" with "go", and "sight" with "night". 

Characters can speak in pairs of couplets at length in a monologue - the above couplet of Helena's is from a longer speech of couplets.

Couplets are sometimes used to indicate the end of a scene, or before a shift in the action, like the couplet from Hamlet's Claudius. The scene is mostly rhyme-free, but given a nice "button" with couplets right at the end.

Other times, couplets are shared throughout the scene and among characters. This can be a lot of fun to play with, as it could mean that the characters are on the same level, and in agreement, or sparring, kind of like a rap battle, or that they're in love. Looking at a few additional lines from the same scene of The Comedy of Errors demonstrates this type of back-and-forth.

Luciana

What, are you mad that you do reason so?

Antipholus of Syracuse

Not mad, but mated - how, I do not know.

Luciana

It is a fault that springeth from your eye.

Antipholus of Syracuse

For gazing on your beams, fair sun, being by.

Luciana

Gaze when you should, and that will clear your sight.

Antipholus of Syracuse

As good to wink, sweet love, as look on night.

Luciana

Why call you me love? Call my sister so.

Antipholus of Syracuse 

Thy sister's sister.

Luciana

              That's my sister.

Antipholus of Syracuse 

                              No;

The scene continues, with Antipholus trying to woo Luciana, but did you see that exquisite shared line of verse just now? Thy sister's sister. / That's my sister. / No; is all one line of verse, rhyming with the previous line: Why call you me love? Call my sister so. I think this could be really hot in performance, as the pace seems to quicken!

Next week on Breaking Down the Bard: Quatrains!

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Shakespeare Quotes

If you've been on Instagram, Pinterest, or the Internet in general, you've probably seen those lovely images with a quote on them being shared for inspiration or for laughs. I see these all the time (heck, I MAKE at least one every day), and I am FLOORED by how frequently people will share a quote attributed to Shakespeare that is, in fact, not his work at all! The following three examples are some of the top offenders that I see on Instagram on a daily basis.

Example #1

This is one that I almost can't believe people could mistake for Shakespeare. The list of "advice" doesn't have a logical progression, and if any character in Shakespeare's plays would have said something like this, it would probably be for comic effect. It's something that sounds like solid advice on the surface, but is cliche and/or nonsensical when you start to consider the meaning. If you truly didn't expect anything from anyone, you wouldn't expect to get paid by your boss, or for your waiter to bring you the item you ordered. It's nonsense, and Shakespeare didn't write it! He DID, however, write a speech of only-marginally-helpful advice in Hamlet, when Polonius is talking to Laertes:

This speech is also quoted often, but Shakespeare actually wrote it! The language is so much richer than the "You know why?" that we see in the imposter. And we can imagine how a young man like Laertes might be rolling his eyes while his father drones on and on about not taking out loans, wearing the right clothes, not starting fights but finishing them, and nurturing true friendships. SO much better than "before you hurt, feel"!

Example #2

While it seems fairly obvious that umbrellas have been around for thousands of years (and well before Shakespeare's time), the word "umbrella" doesn't appear in any of his writing. The phrase "you find a shadow spot" seems odd to me; why not a "shady spot" or even a "shadowed spot"? The phrase is awkward. Instead, how about quoting Sonnet 93?

This sonnet captures the idea that this person will always look sweet and loving, but it's impossible to tell whether their love is true or not! Their appearance doesn't show what they're thinking or feeling, and it worries the writer that they won't ever be entirely sure what's going on. It would suck to be in love with someone who leads you on all the time, and Shakespeare nails it in Sonnet 93.

Example #3

I'll admit that this is a sweet sentiment. I'm a sucker for "love at first sight" stories, too. But Shakespeare simply did not write this. He did, however, write this:

Rosalind says that in As You Like It. There's also this:

Ferdinand says that in The Tempest. Why bother making up fake Shakespeare quotes (or sharing them) when there are so many fantastic real Shakespeare quotes to choose from? I post a Shakespeare quote image every day on my Facebook page - follow me to be sure to start your day with the best of the Bard!

Bonus:

Did you think that was Shakespeare? It is, and it isn't. Marlowe wrote this line in Hero and Leander, and Shakespeare was actually quoting Marlowe when Phebe says the line in As You Like It! Hero and Leander came out a year before As You Like It.

 

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Breaking Down the Bard - Trochees

Now that you know what verse is, and what perfect iambic pentameter is (and if you don't, feel free to read my previous Breaking Down the Bard posts to catch up), we've been tackling what happens when the verse has variations that break the pattern of perfect iambic pentameter.

Say this line of verse, and try to make it perfectly iambic:

Beauty is bought with judgement of the eye

beau-TY is BOUGHT with JUDGE-meant OF the EYE

Sounds flippin' weird, right? It sounds strange because nobody says "beauty" like "beau-TY"... and if they did, you would probably laugh at them. 

The word "beauty" is spoken with the emphasis on the first syllable: "BEAU-ty". It breaks the mould of the style of verse that is prevalent in this play (Love's Labour's Lost), and grabs our attention; which is great for the actor playing the Princess, because she is sort of schooling Boyet with this line. It sounds better when it's spoken like this:

BEAU-ty is BOUGHT with JUDGE-ment OF the EYE

Wow. Like a normal human is talking.

As you probably guessed from the title of this post, this type of metric foot is called a trochee. A trochee is the opposite of an iamb; a trochee is a stressed syllable, followed by an unstressed syllable, and an iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. 

Side note: it's pronounced "TROH-key". And yes, the word trochee IS A TROCHEE. Boom. But when you say "iamb", that's a trochee, too, so don't get too excited... you didn't just crack the verse code.

Just like iambs, trochees can be a word all on their own, or they can overlap two words, or be part of a larger word with more syllables. Some words that are trochaic all by themselves are: rainbow, bowling, baseball, country, delta, never, and zero.

Often, trochees will appear at the beginning of a line of Shakespeare's verse, where there has been primarily iambic pentameter. It gets the listener's attention:

Cousin, thou wast not wont to be so dull.

Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead,

And I would have it suddenly perform'd.

COU-sin, thou WAST not WONT to BE so DULL.

shall I be PLAIN? i WISH the BAS-tards DEAD,

and I would HAVE it SUD-den-LY per-FORM'D.

There might be a trochee on a line with a feminine ending, and/or at the beginning of a line after a feminine ending:

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return. 

TWO of the FAIR-est STARS in ALL the HEAV-en*

HAV-ing some BUS-'ness, DO en-TREAT her EYES

to TWIN-kle IN their SPHERES till THEY re-TURN

*As per usual, I will remind you that there are many ways to scan a line of verse. For this particular example, I have chosen to trochee the first foot, and pronounce "heaven" with two syllables to demonstrate the feminine ending. You certainly could keep the line in perfect iambic pentameter (by eliding "heaven" to "heav'n"), or any number of other options!

It doesn't have to be at the beginning of a line of verse:

O, what authority and show of truth

Can cunning sin cover itself withal!

o, WHAT au-THOR-i-TY and SHOW of TRUTH

can CUN-ning SIN COV-er it-SELF with-AL!

And when something magical is happening, Shakespeare might decide to use a trochaic style of verse INSTEAD OF iambic pentameter:

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

DOU-ble, DOU-ble, TOIL and TROU-ble;

FI-re BURN and CAUL-dron BUB-ble.

Or

Shall we their fond pageant see?

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

SHALL we THEIR fond PAG-eant SEE?

LORD, what FOOLS these MOR-tals BE!

Trochees are awesome, because they shake things up and keep the audience listening! It sends a new energy and says, "listen up!" at just the right moment, so be on the lookout for this exciting kind of verse!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Feminine Endings

Now that you've got a handle on the difference between verse and prose, what perfect iambic pentameter is, and what scansion is (and if you don't, follow the links to get caught up!), we're gonna take a look at what happens when things aren't so "perfect" in a line of iambic pentameter anymore. We'll call these "variations" to the verse, and today we're going to start with "feminine endings".

Take a look at this section of Shakespeare's 20th Sonnet:

A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted

Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;

A woman's gentle heart but not acquainted

With shifting change as is false women's fashion

This whole sonnet is unconventional, because every line of verse has an extra, unstressed syllable at the end! Since iambic pentameter is ten syllables per line, alternating between unstressed and stressed syllables, this sonnet breaks the "rules":

a WO-man's GEN-tle HEART but NOT ac-QUAINT-ed

A line of verse that has an additional unstressed or weak syllable outside of the traditional structure (in this case, iambic pentameter) has what we call a "feminine ending", or a "weak ending". Yes, this is opposed to a stressed or "masculine" ending. It has absolutely nothing to do with the subject being a male or female, it is entirely about whether the last syllable in the line is stressed or unstressed. Misogyny, I know... I didn't come up with the name.

Why is there an extra syllable at the end of the line? 

Well, first of all, the words at the ends of the lines in the above poem rhyme in an "A B A B" pattern, and the rhythm helps to emphasize that. Shakespeare has rhymes all over the place, and they aren't all quite so obvious as "painted" and "acquainted", or "passion" and "fashion." Rhymes are not a requirement for a feminine ending, but be on the lookout for them!

Second, these are the words that Shakespeare wanted for these lines. I don't say this as a cop-out; Shakespeare was certainly smart enough to choose other words that would rhyme AND maintain the meaning AND fit into perfect iambic pentameter... or he could have invented ones that he wanted. He chose not to.

Third, it breaks up the rhythm and gets our attention. If the verse stays too perfect for too long, it can get boring, and we stop listening. This little hiccup at the end of the line helps keep our attention!

Let's check out a few more lines of verse to find other examples of this particular variation:

This speech from Henry V:

When we have matched our rackets to these balls,

We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set

Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.

Might scan* like this:

when WE have MATCHED our RACK-ets TO these BALLS,

we WILL, in FRANCE, by GOD'S grace, PLAY a SET

shall STRIKE his FA-ther's CROWN in-TO the HA-zard.

This speech from Love's Labour's Lost:

Now, madam, summon up your dearest spirits,

Consider who the King your father sends,

To whom he sends, and what's his embassy.

Might scan* like this:

now MAD-am, SUM-mon UP your DEAR-est SPIR-its,

con-SID-er WHO the KING your FA-ther SENDS,

to WHOM he SENDS, and WHAT'S his EM-bas-SY.

And this speech from Macbeth:

And yet the eight appears, who bears a glass

Which shows me many more; and some I see

That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry.

Might scan* like this:

and YET the EIGHT ap-PEARS, who BEARS a GLASS

which SHOWS me MAN-y MORE; and SOME i SEE

that TWO-fold BALLS and TREB-le SCEP-tres CAR-ry.

*I say that it MIGHT SCAN like this because there is often more than one way to scan a line of verse. I have chosen to maintain the structure of perfect iambic pentameter when scanning these lines, in order to illustrate the feminine endings effectively.

TO SUM UP:

A feminine ending is when there is an unstressed syllable at the end of a line of poetry, especially one that is an extra syllable added to the pre-established meter. This "hiccup" in the rhythm helps keep the audience's attention, sometimes emphasizes a rhyme, and is 100% intentional!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Scansion

Our patterns of speech have various rhythms, made up of combinations of stressed or unstressed syllables or words. In reality, the amount of emphasis we place on words and syllables is a broad spectrum. Some people will delve into those different levels of emphasis when it comes to poetry, and that is totally cool. However, when we're looking at classical verse text, particularly Shakespeare, we generalize with either "unstressed" or "stressed" syllables.

If everything was emphasized to the same degree, odds are good you would sound like a robot... which IS a choice, if that's what you're looking for. But for the other 99.99% of the time, you're gonna need to pay attention to the patterns of speech.

Let's look at the following sentence:
I never said she stole my money.

The choice of which word to emphasize in this sentence changes the entire meaning.
I never SAID she stole my money. (But I wanted to.)
I never said SHE stole my money. (It was Ava, not Isabella!)
I never said she stole MY money. (She stole Jaxon's.)

How you choose to deliver your lines can also change how your character is perceived, and possibly even the plot of the play! Therefore, it's important to pay close attention to the weight you give your words.

"Scansion" is the name for the markings you'll make in your script to remind yourself where you'd like the stresses to fall in your lines of verse. (You "scan" a line of verse, the markings themselves are "scansion".)

SUPER IMPORTANT:
THERE IS USUALLY MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SCAN A LINE OF VERSE.
It's not about "right" and "wrong", it's about telling the story clearly and effectively. In a show, this is usually a collaborative effort.

There are many ways to mark your verse, but the most common in America (right now), is:

If you were taught something else, or prefer something else, that's okay! Formatting gets all kinds of cray on a computer, so if I can't handwrite something, you'll SEE me TYPE like THIS. it CER-tain-ly ISn't i-DEAL, BUT it GETS the POINT a-CROSS.

Let's look at some scanned perfect iambic pentameter:

See how the unstressed and stressed syllables are clearly denoted? It's super easy to follow, especially with that tricky word at the end of the second line, "deserts". It's not DESerts, like the Sahara, but it's pronounced like "desserts" (like cake), and it means merit, or claim to honor and reward.

If you're not dealing with iambic pentameter, it might look like this:

This poem by William Blake is a great example of a different kind of verse.

Additionally, some people find it helpful to mark where the end of each "foot" is. The foot is kind of like the measure, if you want to think of this as music. It's even marked just like a measure ending is in sheet music, with a vertical line:

There you have it! The easy intro to scansion - which will make you look like SUCH a pro when you walk into your next first day of rehearsal!

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Breaking Down the Bard - Verse vs Prose

One of the very first things you need to learn as a classical or Shakespearean actor is how to identify when you are speaking in Verse or Prose. Knowledge of this super simple thing can be the difference between looking like you know your stuff or looking like a total noob.

WHAT IS VERSE?

Simply put, verse is poetry. If a character is speaking in poetry, there is very often a reason behind it; whether it is because they are addressing the King, are royalty themselves, or they are in love. It doesn't have to rhyme, and it isn't necessarily "iambic pentameter" (though it often is, and we can get into that later).

WHAT IS PROSE?

Prose is everyday, non-poetic speech. This paragraph, for example, is entirely in prose. Prose is often used for plain-speaking characters, and usually - but not always - used to denote characters of lower social classes. Kings may speak in prose, but when they do, it is generally in informal situations (like confiding in a close friend).

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE:

Most editors make telling the difference between verse and prose as easy as possible when they are printing a new edition of the play. Here's an example of what the current industry standard for verse looks like:

Why should you think that I should woo in scorn?

Scorn and derision never come in tears.

Look when I vow, I weep; and vows so born,

In their nativity all truth appears.

How can these things in me seem scorn to you,

Bearing the badge of faith to prove them true?

While prose looks more like this:

I have of late - but wherefore I know not - lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition, that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament; this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors. What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension, how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals, and yet to me what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me - nor woman neither, though by your smiling, you seem to say so.

One of the easiest ways to tell if you are working with verse or prose is to see if the first letter of each line is capitalized. If so, it's probably verse! If not, and the lines of text fill the entire column in a block instead of being left justified, then it is probably prose!

There you have it; the first steps to identifying whether you are speaking in verse or prose!

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