\documentclass[12pt]{article}     \usepackage{german} 
 \textheight10cm \textwidth11cm \parindent0mm \parskip 1ex plus2ex minus0.8ex
\begin{document}
\begin{verse}
 There is an environment for verse \\
 Whose features some poets will curse.

 For instead of making \\ 
 Them do {\em all\/} line breaking, \\
 It allows them to put too many words
 on a line when they'd rather be forced
 to be terse.
\end{verse}
\end{document}
