The dactylic pentameter is a verse-form which, in classical Greek and Latin poetry, follows a dactylic hexameter to make up an elegiac couplet. It consists of two halves, each consisting of two dactyls, for which
spondee
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 ...
s can be substituted in the first half only, followed by a
longum. Thus the line most normally looks as follows (note that "—" marks a long syllable, "∪" a short syllable and "
∪ ∪ " either one long or two shorts):
, —
∪ ∪ , —
∪ ∪ , — , , — ∪ ∪ , — ∪ ∪ , —
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 the last syllable can actually be short or long. Also, the line has a diaeresis, where a word-boundary must occur, after the first half-line, here marked , , .
"Pentameter" may seem a slightly strange term for this meter, as it seems to have six parts, but the reason is that each half of the line has two and a half feet, the two together thus making up five. Each half-line is called a hemiepes (half-epic), as resembling half a line of epic dactylic hexameter.
The pentameter is notable for its very tight structure, with substitutions allowed only in the first two feet. It seldom, if ever, occurs except in elegiac couplets.
See also
*
Prosody (Latin)
Latin prosody (from Middle French ''prosodie'', from Latin ''prosōdia'', from Ancient Greek προσῳδία ''prosōidía'', "song sung to music, pronunciation of syllable") is the study of Latin poetry and its laws of meter. The following artic ...
References
External links
Meter and Scansionwith several Latin verse forms.
Types of verses
pl:Dystych elegijny
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