Poetry other variations of "shi" poetry, generally either a four line (quatrain, or "jueju") or else an eight line poem is normal; either way with the even numbered lines rhyming. The line length is scanned by according number of characters (according to the convention that one character equals one syllable), and are predominantly either five or seven characters long, with a caesura before the final three syllables. The lines are generally end-stopped, considered as a series of couplets, and exhibit verbal parallelism as a key poetic device. The "old style" verse ("gushi") is less formally strict than the "jintishi", or regulated
Songs of paradise: a harvest of poetry and verse Songs of paradise: a harvest of poetry and verse Songs of paradise: a harvest of poetry and verse is a 2009 collection of 52 poems by Ugandan poet James Munange Ogoola. The poems are arranged in seven sections: "Spiritual", "Love and life", "Mortality and immortality", "Poetry, song and the word", "Environment and nature", "Justice and governace", and "Tribute and Dedications". The book received both pisitive and negative reviews from critics. It was received positively in Ugandan newspapers "The Observer", "New Vision" and the "Daily Monitor". It received a negative review from "The Independent". Martyn Drakard of "The Observer", called it