Versicle: a kind of free verse (q.v.) with longish endstopped lines frequently structured by repetition and variation of grammatical patterns, a form modelled rather loosely on Biblical parallelismus. Walt Whitman’s verse generally takes the form of versicles, as in these lines from “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”:
Others will enter the gates of the ferry, and cross from shore to shore;
Others will watch the run of the flood-tide;
Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east;
Others will see the islands large and small
The versicle can also be found in Christopher Smart’s Jubilate Agno, and the distinctive free verse of D. H. Lawrence:
He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
And looked at me vaguely, as...
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157 words
Citation: Groves, Peter Lewis. "Versicle". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1434, accessed 15 December 2025.]
