In
Greek and
Latin poetry, a choriamb (Ancient Greek: χορίαμβος - ''khoriambos'') is a
metron (prosodic foot) consisting of four
syllable
A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...
s in the pattern long-short-short-long (—
‿ ‿ —), that is, a
trochee
In poetic metre, a trochee ( ) is a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, unstressed one, in qualitative meter, as found in English, and in modern linguistics; or in quantitative meter, as found in ...
alternating with an
iamb. Choriambs are one of the two basic metra that do not occur in spoken verse, as distinguished from true lyric or sung verse. The choriamb is sometimes regarded as the "nucleus" of
Aeolic verse, because the pattern long-short-short-long pattern occurs, but to label this a "choriamb" is potentially misleading.
[Halporn ''et al.'', ''Meters'', pp. 29–31.]
In the prosody of
English and other modern European languages, "choriamb" is sometimes used to describe four-syllable sequence of the pattern stressed-unstressed-unstressed-stressed (again, a trochee followed by an iamb): for example, "over the hill", "under the bridge", and "what a mistake!".
English prosody
In English, the choriamb is often found in the first four syllables of iambic pentameter verses, as here in
Keats' ''
To Autumn'':
:Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
:Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
:Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
:Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
:Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
:Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
:Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
:And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
:Steady thy laden head across a brook;
:Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
:Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
See also
*
meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set ...
*
Aeolic verse
External links
*
References
{{Reflist
Metrical feet