The Quatrain of Seven Steps seven strides such that Cao Pi is convinced of his innocence. Cao Zhi does so, and Cao Pi becomes so flustered with emotion that he spares his brother, although he later exacts punishment upon Cao Zhi in the form of demotion. The poem itself is written in the traditional "five-character quatrain" style and is an extended metaphor that describes the relationship of two brothers and the ill-conceived notion of one harming the other over petty squabbling. There exists two versions of the poem, one being six lines in length and the other four. The former is generally thought to be
Political verse as ivy-leaves around the ruin'd turret wreathe, All green and wildly fresh without, but worn and gray beneath. </poem> But in the English poetry the lines have mostly masculine rhyme whereas in Greek poetry the fifteen syllable feminine line is the norm of the Political verse. The Political verse characterizes traditional Greek poetry, especially between 1100 and 1850. It is the verse in which most Greek folk songs are written, including such temporally distant works as the medieval Cretan romance "Erotokritos" and the 3rd draft of Dionysios Solomos' ""The Free Besieged"", considered the masterpiece of modern Greek poetry. It is