and English verse The primary source of the differences between Russian and English verse is that English has many one syllable nouns, verbs, and adjectives, where Russian words typically have many syllables, and carry only a single invariable stress. The iambic rhythm of alternating accented and unaccented syllables is relatively natural in English, whereas in Russian speech many unaccented syllables may quite naturally occur in sequence. English iambic tetrameters Scudless lines are more common than scudded lines. Sequences of scudded lines are short. Scuds are frequently associated with weak monosyllables, duplex tilts, and scudded rhymes (in the final foot) Scuds in feet 1 and 2 occur about as frequently as in foot 3; scuds in foot 4 are rare. The line is weighted accentually towards its end. Feminine rhymes are "scarce, insipid, or burlesque" Elisions are relatively common. Russian iambic tetrameters Scudded lines are much more common than scudless lines. Scuds often form linked patterns from line to line, often in sequences of twenty or more lines. Sequences of scudless lines rarely occur in sequences longer than two or three lines. Scuds are frequently associated with the unaccented syllables of long words; there are almost no duplex tilts. Rhymes are not scudded (that is, there is no scud in the final foot). Scuds in foot 3 are by far the most common. The line is weighted accentually towards its beginning. Feminine rhymes are as frequent as masculine ones. There are strictly speaking no elisions of any kind. See also Alexandrine Notes Books about poetry Poetic rhythm Books by Vladimir Nabokov 1964 non-fiction books