Glossary Term of the Day:

A fourteener in poetry is a metrical line of 14 syllables -- usually seven iambic feet -- most commonly found in English poetry produced in the 16th and 17th centuries. Fourteeners often appear as rhymed couplets, in which case they may be seen as ballad stanza or common metre hymn quatrains in two rather than four lines.

A relatively long line, fourteeners can be found in narrative poetry from the Middle Ages. Fourteener couplets broken into quatrains are known as common measure or ballad meter.

The term may also be used as a synonym for quatorzain, a 14-line poem, such as a sonnet.