Metrically speaking, poetry can be divided into classical poetry and modern poetry.
Classical poetry, also known as ancient poetry or ancient style, refers to various poetic styles that appeared before the Tang Dynasty. Poems written by people after the Tang Dynasty imitate this poetic style, which is also called archaic poetry.
Classical poetry can be divided into four-character poems, five-character poems, six-character poems, seven-character poems and miscellaneous poems according to the number of words in each sentence. In some books, miscellaneous poems are not listed separately, but classified as seven-character ancient poems. The so-called miscellaneous poems mean that the number of words in each sentence is uncertain and can be played at will. Miscellaneous poems are mainly composed of three, five and seven sentences, and occasionally there are more than four, six and seven sentences. The so-called four-character poem is a poem with four words in each sentence, five-character poem is a poem with five words in each sentence, seven-character poem is a poem with seven words in each sentence, and so on. Four-character poems are rare after the Tang Dynasty. After the Tang Dynasty, most of the poems are five-character or seven-character, and there are also some six-character poems and miscellaneous poems, but not many. Five-character ancient poems are also referred to as five-character ancient poems, and seven-character ancient poems are referred to as seven-character ancient poems. Four five-character or seven-character ancient poems are generally called quatrains.
It should be pointed out that in the Tang Dynasty and beyond, some people also wrote some ancient styles. Although these works generally meet the requirements of modern poetry, they are only regarded as ancient poetry because they do not meet the requirements of modern poetry in rhyme, fit or antithesis.
Modern poetry is a new style of poetry that pays attention to rhythm, levelness, adhesion and antithesis, also known as modern poetry or metrical poetry. Represented by five-character or seven-character metrical poems, it also includes metrical and metrical. The so-called modern poetry or modern poetry is relative to ancient poetry. In fact, it is neither "modern" nor "close" now, but it was called by the ancients, and we call it now, so we will continue to use this name. Poems written after the Tang Dynasty that imitate the style of modern poetry are also called modern poetry.
Modern poetry has only five words and seven words in terms of the number of words in a sentence. No matter what form modern poetry takes, there are even sentences.
Modern poetry composed of four sentences is also called quatrains. In order to distinguish it from ancient times, people used to call it law. Rhyme has relatively strict rules on the smoothness of each sentence, and rhyme is more rigorous than ancient rhyme. Because the quatrains in the near aspect are similar to the four sentences in a poem, some people call them truncated sentences. Quatrains are divided into five-character quatrains and seven-character quatrains, also known as five-character quatrains, four-character quatrains and twenty-character quatrains; Seven-character quatrains are also called seven-character quatrains, four sentences and twenty-eight characters.
Each modern poem consisting of eight sentences is called metrical poem. Five-character poems are referred to as five laws for short, with forty characters; Seven-character verse is referred to as seven laws for short, with 56 words. The Five Laws and Seven Laws not only have strict requirements for the fluency and rhyme of each sentence, but also have certain requirements for the antithesis of sentences.
There is a kind of metrical poem with more than eight sentences, which is called long law, also called excluded law. Like five-character metrical poems and seven-character metrical poems, the arrangement of metrical poems not only has strict requirements such as leveling and rhyming, but also has strict regulations on fitting and antithesis. The number of sentences in the arrangement can only be even.
There is also a six-sentence metrical poem called Xiao Lu by the ancients. Since there are not many works, I won't say much. Now, the poems of Xiaofa are generally classified as the ancient style of Xiaofa.
Every two sentences of a metrical poem (one rhyme, not counting when the first sentence enters rhyme) are called a couplet. The first couplet of the five laws and seven laws (one or two sentences) is called the first couplet; The second couplet (three or four sentences) is called parallel couplet; The third triple (five or six sentences) is called cervical couplet, also called abdominal couplet; The fourth part (seven or eight sentences) is called tail connection.
In addition to rhyme and number of words, metrical poems generally require antithesis. The antithesis of five laws and seven laws is generally used in parallel prose and neck couplets. The first couplet may or may not be antithetical. When antithesis is used in the first couplet, it will generally not reduce the antithesis between the two couplets. In fact, all the poems with antithesis in the first couplet are always antithetical. If the couplet is wrong, there is only the head and neck couplet, and there is a nickname called "Stealing Spring Style". Generally speaking, there is no antithesis in the couplet of metrical poems, because the poem ends when it reaches the couplet, and antithesis is not suitable for concluding remarks, but there are also examples of antithesis in the couplet.