Ictosyllabic metre

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Peter Lewis Groves (Monash University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

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Ictosyllabic metre: a metre in which each line has a fixed number of beats, and a fixed number of off-beats between each pair of beats within the line, either one (

duple

metre), two (

triple

metre) or three (

quadruple

or paeonic metre, q.v.). Examples:

Duple metre:

Should you ask me, whence these stories?Whence these le-gends and tra-ditions,With the o-dors of the fo-restWith the dew and damp of mea-dows

Should

you

ask

, whence

these

stories?Whence

these

le-

gends

and

tra

-ditions,With

the

-dors

the

fo-restWith

the

dew

and

damp

mea-dows

(Longfellow, Hiawatha)

(Longfellow,

Hiawatha

)

Triple metre:

The Assy-rian came down like a wolf on the fold,And his co-horts were glea-ming in pur-ple and gold;And the sheen of their spears was like

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200 words

Citation: Groves, Peter Lewis. "Ictosyllabic metre". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5517, accessed 24 November 2024.]

Ictosyllabic metre

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