How to use the Line Counter
To get started with the line counter, enter some text by pasting or typing into the text-box above.
As your text is entered, the line count at the top of the screen will be updated automatically in real-time!
Each line found in your text will be displayed in a table with the corresponding line number next.
The contents of the table can be downloaded and saved as a .CSV file allowing you to open it up as a spreadsheet in Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, or any other spreadsheet tool.
To exclude the blank lines in your text, simply check the "Exclude blank lines" checkbox. The blank lines will no longer be included in the line count or the table.
That’s all there is to our online line counter!
The Importance of Line Count in Poetry
For aspiring poets and those just starting to try their hand at writing poetry, there's a lot of latitude in what constitutes a poem. In other words, it's a fairly easy genre to get started in.
On the other hand, if you want to challenge yourself, there are more than enough poetic forms to accommodate that. Many of those come with very specific sets of rules.
One of the rules you'll find in many of those forms is specific line counts, and those may apply to the number per stanza, overall line count, or both.
In this article, I'll discuss the definition of a "line" in poetry, and what doesn't qualify as one. I'll also introduce you to some poetic forms that require precise line counts, as well as some who don't have that requirement.
Although this article isn't about rhyming schemes, I'll include a brief description of them for some forms, to better explain the reason for the line count.
Lastly, I'll talk about why you might want to try writing these forms, even if poetry isn't "your thing".
What's Line Count to a Poet?
A line in a poem is a section of text that represents how a poem is divided. Although it's not entirely accurate, you can think of it as what was typed after one line break and before the next.
Unlike a sentence or clause, a line may or may not be grammatically correct. There's also no punctuation required for the end of a poetic line, although it may contain punctuation and/or capitalization indicated by the grammatical content.
Counted lines must contain words. Blank lines, while often included for various reasons, do not add to the line count. The title, subtitle and author's "byline" are also normally ignored in the line count. There are instances in which all of these can be important, and I'll touch on that later.
When counting lines, it's important to realize that a poem may be viewed on any of several platforms, which may alter the layout.
For instance a poem with long lines may automatically wrap to fit a tablet or smartphone screen, making it less obvious where lines end. Fortunately, in these cases, a short line will usually be recognizable as part of the line preceding it. Our line counter will help in these tricky situations.
Poetic Forms with Strict Line Requirements
Before jumping into this section, let me say that there are two things that can influence these requirements: poetic license and evolution. Here's how they matter:
"Poetic license" is a term that's often used to describe things like creating a contraction to drop a syllable from a word to make the meter of a line match. Replacing "ever" with "e'er" or "'ere" is one of the most well-known examples.
It might also apply to using a word that can be pronounced with more or less syllables, depending on the need.
"Evolution" is a term I use to describe how some poetic forms may have changed or "relaxed" over a period of many years. For instance, while the haiku form consists of 3 lines with 5, 7 and 5 syllables, several modified or hybridized versions have evolved with different line counts and syllable counts.
For example, the "tanka" form consists of 5 lines, to allow more descriptive text.
While the first of those practices is widely accepted, the second is often more controversial. Poets who have been bold enough to "break the mold" have often met with resistance.
Haiku: I've already mentioned it but don't want to omit it. A proper haiku has 3 lines. A series of 3-line stanzas that fit a common theme can also be considered a haiku, but is more accurately called a haiku series or haiku chain. If you are writing a Haiku, be sure to use our Haiku Checker.
Limerick: Another short poem, often humorous, with a fixed number of lines. A limerick has 5 lines, with a AABBA rhyming scheme.
Sonnet: There are two types of traditional sonnets, and both consist of 14 lines total. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet is grouped into 2 stanzas, one with 8 lines and another with 6. The Shakespearean version has 4 parts that can be separated into stanzas or written as one. (See Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 as an example.)
Villanelle: This is a form with 19 lines. It's written with 5 stanzas of 3 lines each, followed by one stanza with 4 lines. The rhyme scheme is complex: ABA for the first 5 stanzas and ABAA for the last stanza.
Please note that there are many more forms than I've listed here. Those described above are the most well known and good examples of the importance of line count.
Forms with No Line Count Requirements
Free verse and blank verse: Neither of these forms has line count requirements. As the names suggest, they do not require rhyme schemes, though blank verse does use meter.
Ode: This form, written as a tribute to someone or something, is often, but not always, written with varying or loose meter, and has no length restriction.
Ballad: Often written in short, rhyming stanzas, these poems tell a story and may be of any overall length. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a well-known example.
Line Counts for Printing and Publishing
As mentioned earlier, there is one instance where the titles and author's name, as well as blank lines need to be considered. Book publishers, contest administrators and the like will need to assure your piece will fit properly on the page(s). This includes contests and competitions. Always read publisher's guidelines carefully. Don’t forget, our line counter has the option of including or excluding blank lines by checking the checkbox.
Discover Your Favorites
As you can see, there are plenty of poetic forms to choose from when writing and line counts are a very big part of what separates them. I highly recommend trying different forms, especially the more challenging ones.
For the Non-Poets:
Delving into and practicing poetic forms that require specific line counts can also help you develop valuable habits for prose and storytelling. These include paragraph formation, metered text and subtle, internal rhyming as well as other skills.
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