Hendecasyllabic verse
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The Hendecasyllabic verse is a quantitative metre used by Catullus. It has a rhythmic pattern that repeats with every eleven syllables, hence the name. The pattern is as follows (L = long syllable, s = short syllable, | = foot division):
- L L | L s s | L s | L s | L s
- (spondee | dactyl | trochee | trochee | trochee)
The first foot is also often a trochee (L s) and sometimes an iamb (s L). The last foot can also be a spondee, in which case it is a "Phalaecean" hendecasyllabic.
Another form of hendecasyllabic verse is the "Sapphic" (so named for its use by the Aeolic poet Sappho), which has the pattern:
- L s | L s | L s s | L s | L L
In this form, the second foot can also be a spondee.
Examples of Latin hendecasyllabics are Catullus 7, 10, 43 and 46. The metre has been imitated in English; the most important examples are by Tennyson and Swinburne. In English, the long/short pattern becomes a stress/unstress pattern, although Tennyson maintained the quantitative features of the metre:
- O you chorus of indolent reviewers,
- Irresponsible, indolent reviewers,
- Look, I come to the test, a tiny poem
- All composed in a metre of Catullus...
- ("Hendecasyllabics")
This form should not be confused with Hendecasyllable.
