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metersapphic

Page history last edited by Laura Gibbs 1 yr ago

 

HOME | Dactylic - Elegiac - Iambic - Sapphic - Goliardic

 

Sapphic Meter

 

A Sapphic stanza is a four-line stanza. The first three lines are composed of "lesser" Sapphics:

 

L - S - L - X      L - S - S - L      S - L - X

L - S - L - X      L - S - S - L      S - L - X

L - S - L - X      L - S - S - L      S - L - X

 

followed by an "adonean" line (which you will see resembles the end of a dactylic hexameter line):

 

L - S - S      L- X

 

The stanza is named after the archaic Greek poet, Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos.

 

Additional references. Here are some reference materials online to help you learn about Sapphic stanzas:

Viva Voce. A comprehensive website for a wide variety of Latin meters, including Sapphic stanzas, with audio.

Sapphic Stanza. An article at wikipedia.

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