Glyconic (from Glycon, a

Greek lyric poet Greek lyric is the body of lyric poetry written in dialects of Ancient Greek. It is primarily associated with the early 7th to the early 5th centuries BC, sometimes called the "Lyric Age of Greece", but continued to be written into the Hellenisti ...

) is a form of

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

in classical Greek and Latin poetry. The glyconic line is the most basic form of

Aeolic verse Aeolic verse is a classification of Ancient Greek lyric poetry referring to the distinct verse forms characteristic of the two great poets of Archaic Lesbos, Sappho and Alcaeus, who composed in their native Aeolic dialect. These verse forms we ...

, and it is often combined with others. The basic shape (often abbreviated as gl) is as follows: x x – u u – u – Here "x" indicates an

anceps 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 lo ...

, "–" a longum, and "u" a brevis. "x x" is known as the

Aeolic base Aeolic verse is a classification of Ancient Greek lyric poetry referring to the distinct verse forms characteristic of the two great poets of Archaic Lesbos, Sappho and Alcaeus, who composed in their native Aeolic dialect. These verse forms wer ...

, which can be a

spondeus A spondee (Latin: ) is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables, as determined by syllable weight in classical meters, or two stressed syllables in modern meters. The word comes from the Greek , , 'libation'. Spondees in Ancient Greek a ...

"– –", a

trochee In English poetic metre and modern linguistics, a trochee () is a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. But in Latin and Ancient Greek poetic metre, a trochee is a heavy syllable followed by a light one (al ...

"– u", or an iamb "u –". The middle foot "– u u –" is a ''

choriambus In Greek and Latin poetry, a choriamb is a metron (prosodic foot) consisting of four syllables in the pattern long-short-short-long (— ‿ ‿ —), that is, a trochee alternating with an iamb. Choriambs are one of the two basic metra that do ...

'', as a so-called choriambic nucleus is a defining element of Aeolic verse. As in all classical verse forms, the phenomenon of

brevis in longo In Greek and Latin metre, ''brevis in longo'' (; ) is a short syllable at the end of a line that is counted as long. The term is short for , meaning "a short yllablein place of a long lement" Although the phenomenon itself has been known since ...

is observed, so although the last

syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

can actually be short or long, it always "counts" as long. The acephalous ("headless") version (^gl), also known as the ''telesillean'' (Latin: ''telesilleus''), is: x – u u – u – Runs of glyconic lines are often ended by a

pherecratean Aeolic verse is a classification of Ancient Greek lyric poetry referring to the distinct verse forms characteristic of the two great poets of Archaic Lesbos, Sappho and Alcaeus, who composed in their native Aeolic dialect. These verse forms wer ...

(a glyconic without the last brevis: x x – u u – –), as in the glyconic and pherecratean stanzas found in

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

and

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

(i.e. Catullus 34 and 61). The combination of glyconic and pherecratean is given the name ''priapean'' (Latin: ''priapeus''): : x x – u u – u – , x x – u u – –

References

*Daniel H. Garrison (editor). ''The Student's Catullus''. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 2004.

References

Further reading