Hendecasyllable

In poetry, a hendecasyllable (sometimes hendecasyllabic) is a line of eleven syllables. The term may refer to several different poetic meters, the older of which are quantitative and used chiefly in classical (Ancient Greek and Latin) poetry, and the newer of which are syllabic or accentual-syllabic and used in medieval and modern poetry. In classical poetry, "hendecasyllable" or "hendecasyllabic" may refer to any of three distinct 11-syllable Aeolic meters, used first in Ancient Greece and later, with little modification, by Roman poets. Aeolic meters are characterized by an Aeolic base × × followed by a choriamb – u u –; where – = a long syllable, u = a short syllable, and × = an anceps, that is, a syllable either long or short. The three Aeolic hendecasyllables (with base and choriamb in bold) are: Phalaecian (hendecasyllabus phalaecius): × × – u u – u – u – – This is a line used only occasionally in Greek choral odes and scolia, but a favorite of Catullus who realized the Aeolic base as – – or – u or u – but not as u u; for example, in the first poem in his collection (with formal equivalent, substituting English stress for Latin length): The base with – – is by far the most common in Catullus, and in later poets such as Statius and Martial was the only one used. There is usually a caesura in the line after the 5th or 6th syllable. Alcaic (hendecasyllabus alcaicus): × – u – × – u u – u – Here the Aeolic base is truncated to a single anceps. This meter typically appears as the first two lines of an Alcaic stanza. (For an English example, see §English, below.) Sapphic (hendecasyllabus sapphicus): – u – × – u u – u – – Again, the Aeolic base is truncated. This meter typically appears as the first three lines of a Sapphic stanza, though it has served in stichic verse, for example by Seneca and Boethius. Sappho wrote many of the stanzas subsequently named after her, for example (with formal equivalent, substituting English stress for Greek length): The hendecasyllable (endecasillabo) is the principal metre in Italian poetry.

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Related concepts (12)

Hendecasyllable

Poetry

Poetry (a term derived from the Greek word poiesis, "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, a prosaic ostensible meaning. A poem is a literary composition, written by a poet, using this principle. Poetry has a long and varied history, evolving differentially across the globe.

Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter (aɪˌæmbɪk_pɛnˈtæmɪtər ) is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". "Iambic" refers to the type of foot used, here the iamb, which in English indicates an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as in a-bove). "Pentameter" indicates a line of five "feet". Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry.