Editing Metre (poetry) (section)

===Classical Persian===
{{further|Persian metres}}
The terminology for metrical system used in classical and classical-style [[Persian poetry]] is the same as that of Classical Arabic, even though these are quite different in both origin and structure. This has led to serious confusion among prosodists, both ancient and modern, as to the true source and nature of the Persian metres, the most obvious error being the assumption that they were copied from Arabic.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Elwell-Sutton|first1=L. P.|author-link1=Lawrence Paul Elwell-Sutton|title=ʿARŪŻ|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aruz-the-metrical-system|publisher=[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>

Persian poetry is quantitative, and the metrical patterns are made of long and short syllables, much as in Classical Greek, Latin and Arabic. ''Anceps'' positions in the line, however, that is places where either a long or short syllable can be used (marked "x" in the schemes below), are not found in Persian verse except in some metres at the beginning of a line.

Persian poetry is written in couplets, with each half-line (hemistich) being 10-14 syllables long. Except in the [[ruba'i]] (quatrain), where either of two very similar metres may be used, the same metre is used for every line in the poem. Rhyme is always used, sometimes with double rhyme or internal rhymes in addition. In some poems, known as [[masnavi (poetic form)|masnavi]], the two halves of each couplet rhyme, with a scheme AA BB CC. In lyric poetry, the same rhyme is used throughout the poem at the end of each couplet, but except in the opening couplet, the two halves of each couplet do not rhyme; hence the scheme is AA BA CA DA. A ''ruba'i'' (quatrain) also usually has the rhyme AA BA.

A particular feature of classical Persian prosody, not found in Latin, Greek or Arabic, is that instead of two lengths of syllables (long and short), there are three lengths (short, long, and overlong). Overlong syllables can be used anywhere in the line in place of a long + a short, or in the final position in a line or half line.<ref>Elwell-Sutton, L.P. ''The Persian Metres'' (1976).</ref><ref>Hayes, Bruce (1979) [http://linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/papers/HayesRhythmicStructureOfPersianVerse1979.pdf "The rhythmic structure of Persian verse"] Edebiyat 4:193-242, p.</ref> When a metre has a pair of short syllables (⏑ ⏑), it is common for a long syllable to be substituted, especially at the end of a line or half-line.

About 30 different metres are commonly used in Persian. 70% of lyric poems are written in one of the following seven metres:<ref>Elwell-Sutton (1976) ''The Persian Metres'', p. 162.</ref>
*⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ –
*– – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ – ⏑ –
*– ⏑ – – – ⏑ – – – ⏑ – – – ⏑ –
*x ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ –
*x ⏑ – – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ –
*⏑ – – – ⏑ – – – ⏑ – – – ⏑ – – –
*– – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ – –

[[Mathnawi|''Masnavi'']] poems (that is, long poems in rhyming couplets) are always written in one of the shorter 11 or 10-syllable metres (traditionally seven in number) such as the following:
*⏑ – – ⏑ – – ⏑ – – ⏑ – (e.g. Ferdowsi's [[Shahnameh]])
*⏑ – – – ⏑ – – – ⏑ – – (e.g. Gorgani's [[Vis o Ramin]])
*– ⏑ – – – ⏑ – – – ⏑ – (e.g. Rumi's [[Masnavi|Masnavi-e Ma'navi]])
*– – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – –  (e.g. [[Nizami Ganjavi|Nezami]]'s [[Layla and Majnun|Leyli o Majnun]])

The two metres used for [[ruba'i|''ruba'iyat'']] (quatrains), which are only used for this, are the following, of which the second is a variant of the first:
*– – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ –
*– – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – – ⏑ ⏑ –