Dear Sappho,
Is there really a poetry meter named after you? Could you please describe that style and explain a little bit about the various terms regarding your poetry form and technique. It seems specific but I can't put my finger on the precise form. Thank you. I am a poet myself and a lifelong huge fan and admirer of your poetry.
Sincerely,
Cathy
Dear Cathy,
ReplyDeleteIronic, is it not that I was that not even aware I was writing consistently in Sapphic verse:~) Actually I wrote in many meters and Styles. But I am noted for the Sapphic Verse or Ode that seems to be the final verdict. Therefore I will briefly define the motif. It is far less poetic to explain it than to simply do it.
If I had to write today inside these specific parameters and rules I would probably lose all interest in the verse and concentrate instead on the blissful ethereal aspects of feeling the poetry instead of actually writing it. Personally I think poetry should flow like music and from a clear light heart.
The Sapphic stanza,
We have 4 lines. Three lines with 11 syllables and the last one has five.
Three long lines, One short line.
Sounds; long short long short long short short long short long long. Take this times 4 lines and the last line is 5 syllables. Long short short long short.
Using "-" for a long syllable, "u" for a short and "x" for an "anceps" (or free syllable):
- u - x - u u - u - -
- u - x - u u - u - -
- u - x - u u - u - -
- u u - u
Dictionary definition: Sapphic Verse is a hendecasyllabic line (eleven syllables) with a very specialized rhythmical structure. It is used in the Sapphic stanza, which consists of three hendecasyllabic lines and a forth line, known as the adonic line, which has five syllables.
After the odes of the Greek lyric poet, Sappho, a verse of eleven syllables in five feet, of which the first, fourth and fifth are trochees, the second a spondee, and the third a dactyl. The Sapphic strophe consists of three Sapphic verses followed by an Adonic.
Glittering-Minded deathless Aphrodite’
Glittering-Minded deathless Aphrodite,
I beg you, Zeus’s daughter, weaver of snares,
Don’t shatter my heart with fierce
Pain, goddess,
But come now, if ever before
You heard my voice, far off, and listened,
And left your father’s golden house,
And came,
Yoking your chariot. Lovely the swift
Sparrows that brought you over black earth
A whirring of wings through mid-air
Down the sky.
They came. And you, sacred one,
Smiling with deathless face, asking
What now, while I suffer: why now
I cry out to you, again:
What now I desire above all in my
Mad heart. ‘Whom now, shall I persuade
To admit you again to her love,
Sappho, who wrongs you now?
If she runs now she’ll follow later,
If she refuses gifts she’ll give them.
If she loves not, now, she’ll soon
Love against her will.’
Come to me now, then, free me
From aching care, and win me
All my heart longs to win. You,
Be my friend.
Dictionary definition: Sapphic Verse is a hendecasyllabic line (eleven syllables) with a very specialized rhythmical structure. It is used in the Sapphic stanza, which consists of three hendecasyllabic lines and a forth line, known as the adonic line, which has five syllables, A verse of eleven syllables in five feet, of which the first, fourth and fifth are trochees, the second a spondee, and the third a dactyl. The Sapphic strophe consists of three Sapphic verses followed by an Adonic.
Yawn. Bring in the dancing girls, I fear we have bored the muses over their ability to bear syllables.
Blessings,
Sappho
Dear Poetry Lovers, The following information explains more about form and meter and will interest some but not all.
ReplyDeleteMeters
The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and accented (or stressed) syllables. (Examples of different line meters below)
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FOOT
Two or more syllables that together make up the smallest unit of meter count.
Example for 1 metrical foot: I sing Example for 2 metrical feet: I sing / a song. Example for 3 metrical feet: I sing / a song / of joy.
—–
SYLLABLE
A unit of spoken language consisting of a single uninterrupted sound formed by a vowel, diphthong, or syllabic consonant alone, or by any of these sounds preceded, followed, or surrounded by one or more consonants. (The dictionary term)
Examples: con/son/ant (3 syllables) spo/ken (2 syllables) (The dictionaries can be used to find how many syllables any word has)
—–
STRESS
Emphasis given to particular syllables. Stressed syllables usually stand out.
Examples from above: CON/son/ANT SPO/ken (caps are the stressed)
Extra note: Dictionaries use the mark ‘ in the Pronunciation keys to show the stressed syllables.
—–
SCANSION
This is not a commonly used term, but added because it is the analysis of a poem’s meter. This is usually done by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line and then, based on the pattern of the stresses, dividing the line into feet.
Following are the most common types of meters:
MONOMETER – A line of poetry that has one metrical foot – DIMETER – A line of poetry that has two metrical feet – TRIMETER - A line of poetry that has three metrical feet. – TERAMETER – A line of poetry that has four metrical feet. – PENTAMENTER – A line of poetry that has five metrical feet. – HEXAMETER – A line of poetry that has six metrical feet. – HEPTAMETER - A line of poetry that has seven metrical feet. – OCTAMETER – A line of poetry that has eight metrical feet.
——————————- SPECIAL TYPES OF METRICAL FEET ——————————-
ANAPEST
A metrical foot of three syllables, two short (or unstressed) followed by one long (or stressed). The anapest is the reverse of the dactyl.
Examples: seventeen —- to the moon.
—–
DACTYL
A metrical foot of three syllables, one long (or stressed) followed by two short (or unstressed). The dactyl is the reverse of the anapest.
Example: in happily.
—–
IAMB
A metrical foot of two syllables, one short (or unstressed) and one long (or stressed). The iamb is the reverse of the trochee.
Example: “Come HOME/ with ME/ and BE/ my LOVE” (Four iambs in the line. The stressed syllables are in bold.)
—–
TROCHEE
A metrical foot of two syllables, one long (or stressed) and one short (or unstressed). The trochee is the reverse of the iamb.
—–
SPONDEE
A metrical foot of two syllables, both of which are long (or stressed).
—–
PYRRHEE
A metrical foot of two syllables, both of which are short (or unstressed).
——————————————— COMPLETE METERS USING TYPES AND METER LENGTHS ———————————————
IAMBIC PENTAMETER
There are five iambs to a line. The prefix penta- means “five,” as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. Meter refers to rhythmic units. In a line of iambic pentameter, there are five metrical feet that are iambs. (This one seems to be the most commonly used)
—–
ALEXANDRINE A line composed of six iambic feet (total of 12 syllables)
ADONIC [əˈdəʊnɪk]
adj
1. (Literature / Poetry) (in classical prosody) of or relating to a verse line consisting of a dactyl (¯ ˘ ˘) followed by a spondee (¯ ¯) or by a trochee (¯ ˘), thought to have been first used in laments for Adonis
2. of or relating to Adonis
I love the verse, am impatient with the definitions. Yes, bring on the dancing girls!
ReplyDeleteGirls, That is your cue......
ReplyDeleteHi there! Thank you for following my blog! I am so glad I found you here and on twitter. :)
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