Scansion
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| - | '''Elegiac couplets''' are a poetic form used by Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes usually of smaller scale than those of epic poetry. The ancient Romans frequently used elegiac couplets in [[love poetry]], as in [[Ovid]]'s ''Amores''. As with [[heroic couplets]], the couplets are usually self-contained and express a complete idea. | + | '''Scansion''' is the act of determining and (usually) graphically representing the metrical character of a line of verse. |
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| - | Elegiac couplets consist of alternating lines of [[dactylic hexameter]] and [[pentameter]]: two [[Dactyl (poetry)|dactyls]] followed by a [[long syllable]], a [[caesura]], then two more dactyls followed by a long syllable. | + | |
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| - | The following is a graphic representation of its [[scansion]]. Note that - is a long syllable, u a short syllable, and U either one long or two shorts: | + | |
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| - | :::- U | - U | - U | - U | - u u | - - | + | |
| - | :::- U | - U | - || - u u | - u u | - | + | |
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| - | The form was felt by the ancients to contrast the rising action of the first verse with a falling quality in the second. The sentiment is summarized by a line from Ovid's [[Amores]] I.1.27 ''Sex mihi surgat opus numeris, in quinque residat'' - "Let my work surge in six feet, quiet down in five." The effect is further illustrated by the following English example written by [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]: | + | |
| - | :In the [[Hexameter]] rises the fountain's silvery column, | + | |
| - | :In the [[pentameter]] aye falling in melody back. | + | |
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| - | ==Greek origins== | + | |
| - | '''The elegiac couplet''' is presumed to be the oldest Greek form of epodic poetry (a form where a later verse is sung in response or comment to a previous one). Scholars theorize the form was originally used in Ionian dirges, with the name "elegy" derived from the Greek ''ε, λεγε ε, λεγε'' - "Woe, cry woe, cry!" Hence, the form was used initially for funeral songs, typically with a flute as accompaniment. [[Archilochus]] expanded use of the form to treat other themes, such as war, travel, or homespun philosophy. Between Archilochus and other imitators, the verse form became a common poetic vehicle for conveying any strong emotion. | + | |
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| - | At the end of the 7th century BCE, Mimnermus of Colophon struck on the innovation of using the verse for erotic poetry. He composed several elegies celebrating his love for the flute girl Nanno, and though fragmentary today his poetry was clearly influential in the later Roman development of the form. [[Propertius]], to cite one example, notes ''Plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero'' - "The verse of Mimnermus is stronger in love than Homer". | + | |
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| - | The form continued to be popular throughout the Greek period and treated a number of different themes. Popular leaders were writers of elegy--[[Solon]] the lawgiver of Athens composed on political and ethical subjects--and even [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] dabbled with the meter. | + | |
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Scansion is the act of determining and (usually) graphically representing the metrical character of a line of verse.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Scansion" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
