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This is a follow-up question to Lettrine Not Keeping Up with the Size of the Font

UPDATE I have revised the original question after being made aware of Steven B. Seglates' excellent answer posted in: Using Lettrine or equivalent inside Verse environment

Consider the following code and output:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lettrine}
\usepackage{lmodern}
%\usepackage{verse}
\begin{document}

\Large
\vskip 15pt


\begin{verse}
  \lettrine{M}{ore} words. Again more words. Again more words. Again more words. Again more words. Again more words. Again more words. Again more words. 
\end{verse}


\vskip 15pt


\begin{verse}
  \lettrine{M}{ore} words. Again more words. \ Again more words. Again more words. \ Again more words. Again more words. \ Again more words. Again more words. 
\end{verse}
\end{document}

enter image description here

Notice that the use of a lettrine in a verse environment works well---until the verse is presented as a stanza, upon which the verse lines are delineated in a less than desirable way.

Moreover, if we invoke the verse package, the output is aesthetically worse:

enter image description here

ORIGINAL QUESTION: How may I use a lettrine in a verse environment, presenting the content in stanza form, yet displaying the output in an aesthetically pleasing way (i.e., similar to the first of the three displayed outputs)?

REVISED QUESTION: Is it possible (and if so, how) to present the output as would be produced using Steven B. Segletes' technique without the use of a subroutine (which is difficult for an unsophisticated user such as myself to understand and modify in the future if the need arises) prior to \begin{document}?

enter image description here

Thank you.

DDS
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    Would you clarify how your question differs from https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/163334? – Thérèse Jul 17 '21 at 17:23
  • @Therese Thank you for pointing me to the excellent answer by Steven B. Segletes. It is helpful. That being said, is there an even simpler way to solve the problem; that is, without the use of a subroutine prior to ``begin{document}''? – DDS Jul 17 '21 at 19:55
  • I'm afraid \lettrine and verse conflict in every possible way. – egreg Jul 17 '21 at 20:21
  • @egreg Do you think then that a subroutine, such as the one offered by Steven Seglates will always be necessary to correct the problem? – DDS Jul 17 '21 at 20:25
  • @mlchristians The current implementation of lettrine makes it very difficult, if at all possible, to use \lettrine in verse. – egreg Jul 17 '21 at 20:30
  • I don't know if my LaTeX code in the referenced answer holds up to the test of time...but, darn!! I was good poet back then! And I'm still wedded to that short, sweet, blond-headed nurse. – Steven B. Segletes Jul 17 '21 at 20:51

1 Answers1

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There are two problems with verse and lettrine: (1) verse have not a normal indentation, so the drop capital is indented too much, and (2) a verse is not a normal paragrah. For lettrine is like a group of paragraphs, each of a single line, but letrrine is desingend to indent 2 or more lines of a single paragraph only.

It is possible to fool to the reader to see several paragraphs indented by a single drop capital (when really there are only one paragraph), but in this case, one solution could be (1) set the indentation of verse, or alternative adjust the lettrine default hanging, and (2) use the mechanism of verse for verse line break with indentation:

enter image description here

\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}
\usepackage{lettrine}
\usepackage{verse}
\begin{document}

\poemtitle{To be indented (too munch) or not be indented (at all)}
\begin{verse}[8cm]
\lettrine{M}{aking} a famine where abundance lies,\
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.\
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, \
And only herald to the gaudy spring, \
Within thine own bud buriest thy content, \
\end{verse}


{\poemtitle{The solution to be indented):\texttt{\textbackslash vindent}}
\vindent0pt
\begin{verse}[8cm]
\lettrine{M}{aking} a famine where abundance lies,\
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.\
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, \
And only herald to the gaudy spring, \
Within thine own bud buriest thy content, 
\end{verse}}


\poemtitle{The solution to not be indented: $>$ }
\begin{verse}[8cm]
\lettrine{M}{aking} a famine where abundance lies,\>
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.\
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, \
And only herald to the gaudy spring, \
Within thine own bud buriest thy content, 
\end{verse}


{\poemtitle{Complete solution via {\em verse} methods}
\vindent0pt
\begin{verse}[8cm]
\lettrine{M}{aking} a famine where abundance lies,\>[-5pt]
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.\
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, \
And only herald to the gaudy spring, \
Within thine own bud buriest thy content, 
\end{verse}}


\poemtitle{Complete solution via {\em lettine} methods}
\begin{verse}[8cm]
\lettrine[lhang=1.5,nindent=0em]{M}{aking} a famine where abundance lies,\>
Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.\
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament, \
And only herald to the gaudy spring, \
Within thine own bud buriest thy content, 
\end{verse}


\end{document}
Fran
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  • Thank you for posting this answer. – DDS Jul 20 '21 at 23:59
  • These solutions do not work if you use the gmverse extension to verse that automatically calculates indent for visual entering based on weighted average of line lengths. – DaveG Nov 13 '21 at 20:40