'Yī shǒu shī' literally means 'one head of poem'—a fixed noun phrase used to count poems in Chinese. Unlike English, which uses the neutral measure word 'a', Chinese requires a specific classifier: 'shǒu' (head) is the standard, traditional classifier for poems, songs, and musical compositions. The character 'shī' means 'poem' or 'verse', while 'yī' simply indicates the number one. Together, the phrase functions as a complete noun unit meaning 'a poem'—not just any poem, but one discrete, self-contained poetic work.

This expression appears frequently in literary contexts, language classrooms, and everyday speech when referring to poetry—whether reading, writing, reciting, or appreciating it. It's grammatically required: you cannot say *'yī shī'*; 'shǒu' must accompany 'shī' when counting. Though 'shǒu' can classify other artistic works (e.g., yī shǒu gē—a song), with 'shī' it carries no ambiguity—it always refers to a poem. Learners should treat 'yī shǒu shī' as a single lexical chunk rather than three separate words.