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Anceps (gastropod)
In languages with quantitative poetic metres, such as Ancient Greek, Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit, and classical Persian, an anceps (plural ''ancipitia'' or ''(syllabae) ancipites'') is a position in a metrical pattern which can be filled by either a long or a short syllable. In general, ''anceps'' syllables in words, such as the first syllable of the Greek words (the Greek god of war) or "bitter", which can be treated by poets as either long or short, can be distinguished from ''anceps'' elements or positions in a metrical pattern, which are positions where either a long syllable or a short syllable can be used. Another distinction can be made between the ordinary ''anceps'' positions at the beginning or middle of a line of verse and the phenomenon of '' brevis in longo'', which is when a short syllable at the end of a line counts as long because of the pause which follows. The word ''anceps'' comes from the Latin ''anceps, ancipitis'', meaning "two-headed, uncertain, unfixed" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences) is the basic rhythm, rhythmic structure of a verse (poetry), verse or Line (poetry), lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study and the actual use of metres and forms of versification are both known as prosody. (Within linguistics, "Prosody (linguistics), prosody" is used in a more general sense that includes not only poetic metre but also the rhythmic aspects of prose, whether formal or informal, that vary from language to language, and sometimes between poetic traditions.) Characteristics An assortment of features can be identified when classifying poetry and its metre. Qualitative versus quantitative metre The metre of most poetry of the Western world and elsewhere is based on patterns of syllables of particular typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resolution (meter)
Resolution is the metrical phenomenon in poetry of replacing a normally long syllable in the meter with two short syllables. It is often found in iambic and trochaic meters, and also in anapestic, dochmiac and sometimes in cretic, bacchiac, and ionic meters. In iambic and trochaic meters, either the first or the second half of the metrical foot can be resolved, or sometimes both. The long syllables of dactylic meter are not usually resolved, and resolution is also not found in the last element of a line. Resolution, when a normally long syllable is replaced by two shorts, is to be distinguished from a biceps element, which is a place in a meter (such as in a dactylic hexameter) where two normally short syllables may be replaced by a single long one. In Ancient Greek Resolution is generally found in Greek lyric poetry and in Greek and Roman drama, most frequently in comedy. It should not be confused with a biceps, which is a point in a meter which can equally be two shorts o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shloka
Shloka or śloka ( sa, श्लोक , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927). in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is "any verse or stanza; a proverb, saying"; but in particular it refers to the 32-line verse, derived from the Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre, used in the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and many other works of classical Sanskrit literature. In its usual form it consists of four ''pādas'' or quarter-verses, of 8 syllables each, or (according to an alternative analysis) of two half-verses of 16 syllables each. The metre is similar to the Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre, but with stricter rules. The ''śloka'' is the basis for Indian epic poetry, and may be considered the Indian verse form ''par excellence'', occurring as it does far more frequently than any other metre in classical Sanskrit poetry. The ''śloka'' is the verse-form generally used in the ''Maha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the '' Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gulistan (book)
''Gulistān'' ( fa, گُلِستان, Golestān, The Flower Garden; ), sometimes spelled Golestan, is a landmark of Persian literature, perhaps its single most influential work of prose. Written in 1258 CE, it is one of two major works of the Persian poet Sa'di, considered one of the greatest medieval Persian poets. It is also one of his most popular books, and has proved deeply influential in the West as well as the East. The ''Golestan'' is a collection of poems and stories, just as a flower-garden is a collection of flowers. It is widely quoted as a source of wisdom. The well-known aphorism still frequently repeated in the western world, about being sad because one has no shoes until one meets the man who has no feet "whereupon I thanked Providence for its bounty to myself" is from the ''Golestan''. The minimalist plots of the ''Golestans stories are expressed with precise language and psychological insight, creating a "poetry of ideas" with the concision of mathematical for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saadi Shirazi
Saadi Shīrāzī ( fa, ابومحمّد مصلحالدین بن عبدالله شیرازی), better known by his pen name Saadi (; fa, سعدی, , ), also known as Sadi of Shiraz (, ''Saʿdī Shīrāzī''; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was a Persian poet and prose writer of the medieval period. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition, earning him the nickname "The Master of Speech" or "The Wordsmith" ( ''ostâd-e soxan'') or simply "Master" ( ''ostâd'') among Persian scholars. He has been quoted in the Western traditions as well. '' Bustan'' has been ranked as one of the 100 greatest books of all time by ''The Guardian''. Biography Saadi was born in Shiraz, Iran, according to some, shortly after 1200, according to others sometime between 1213 and 1219. In the Golestan, composed in 1258, he says in lines evidently addr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamil (metre)
''Kāmil'' (Arabic "the perfect") is the second commonest metre (after the '' ṭawīl'') used in pre-Islamic and classical Arabic poetry.Golston, Chris & Riad, Tomas (1997)"The Phonology of classical Arabic meter" ''Linguistics'' 35 (1997), 111-132; p. 120. The usual form of the metre is as follows (where "–" represents a long syllable, "u" a short syllable, and "uu" one long or two shorts): :, uu – u – , uu – u – , uu – u – , The mnemonic words (''tafāʿīl'') used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: ' (). The ''kāmil'' resembles the ''wāfir'' metre in that it makes use of '' biceps'' elements (that is, places in the verse where two short syllables can be replaced by one long one). In Arabic poetry The ''kāmil'' metre has been used for Arabic poetry since early times and accounts for about 18%-20% of the poems in early collections. Two of the famous seven pre-Islamic Mu‘allaqāt poems (the 4th and 6th) are written in the ''kāmil'' metre. One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rajaz (prosody)
Rajaz (, literally 'tremor, spasm, convulsion as may occur in the behind of a camel when it wants to rise') is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. A poem composed in this metre is an ''urjūza''. The metre accounts for about 3% of surviving ancient and classical Arabic verse. Form This form has a basic foot pattern of , ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , (where '–' represents a long syllable, '⏑' a short syllable, and '⏓' a syllable that can be long or short), as exemplified through the mnemonic (''Tafā'īl'') ' (). It is exceptional, but possible, for both anceps syllables to be short. Rajaz lines also have a catalectic version with the final foot , ⏓ – – , . Lines are most often of three feet (trimeter), but can also be of two feet (dimeter). Thus the possible forms are: :, ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , (trimeter) :, ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , ⏓ – – , ( trimeter catalectic) :, ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – , (dimeter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basit
''Basīṭ'' ( ar, بسيط), or ''al-basīṭ'' (البسيط), is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. The word literally means "extended" or "spread out" in Arabic. Along with the '' ṭawīl'', '' kāmil'', and '' wāfir'', it is one of the four most common metres used in pre-Islamic and classical Arabic poetry. Form of the metre The metrical form of the basīṭ is often as follows (where "–" is a long syllable, "u" is a short syllable, and "x" is , i.e., a syllable which can be either long or short): :, x – u – , x u – , – – u – , u u – , The mnemonic words (''tafāʿīl'') used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: ' (). The metre is usually used in couplets of eight feet each. Example An example is the '' qasīda'' by al-Mutanabbi (915-965): “The poet reproaches Sayf al-Dawla” (king of Aleppo), a poem of 38 couplets, from which comes the well-known verse: : : : :, u – u – , u u – , – – u – , u u – , :, u – u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ṭawīl
''Ṭawīl'' ( ar, طويل, literally 'long'), or ''al-Ṭawīl'' (), is a Meter (poetry), meter used in classical Arabic poetry. It comprises distich, distichs (''bayt'') of two 'lines'—in Arabic usually written side by side, with a space dividing them, the first being called the ''sadr'' (صدر, literally "chest") and the other the ''ʿajuz'' (عجز, literally "belly"). Its basic form is as follows (the symbol ''–'' representing a long syllable, ''⏑'' representing a short syllable, and ''x'' representing a syllable that can be short or long): : , ⏑ – x , ⏑ – – – , ⏑ – x , ⏑ – ⏑ – , (2×) This form can be exemplified through the traditional mnemonic ' (). The final syllable of every distich rhymes throughout the whole poem; a long poem might comprise a hundred distichs. In Classical verse, each distich is a complete syntactic unit. Variations The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' records three sub-types of ''ṭawīl'' hemistich, of whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catullus 4
Catullus 4 is a poem by the ancient Roman writer Catullus. The poem concerns the retirement of a well-traveled ship (referred to as a "''phaselus''", also sometimes cited as "''wikt:phasellus, phasellus''", a variant spelling). Catullus draws a strong analogy with human aging, rendering the boat as a person that flies and speaks, with palms (the oars) and purpose. The poem is complex, with numerous geographic references and elaborate litotes, litotic double negatives in a list-like manner. It borrows heavily from Ancient Greek vocabulary, and also uses Greek grammar in several sections. The meter (poetry), meter of the poem is unusual — iambic trimeter, which was perhaps chosen to convey a sense of speed over the waves. Scholars remain uncertain whether the story of the construction and voyages of this ''phasellus'' (ship, yacht, or pinnace), as described or implied in the poem, can be taken literally. A. D. Hope, Professor A. D. Hope in his posthumous book of translations from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
