The classical hendecasyllable is a quantitative meter used in Ancient Greece in Aeolic verse and in scolia, and later by the Roman poet Catullus. Each line has eleven syllables; hence the name, which comes from the Greek word for eleven.
How many of Catullus's poems are hendecasyllabic?
Forty-three of Catullus's poems are hendecasyllabic; for an example, see Catullus 1 . The metre has been imitated in English, notably by Alfred Tennyson, Swinburne, and Robert Frost, cf. "For Once Then Something."
What is hendecasyllabic?
The term "hendecasyllabic" is used to refer to two different poetic meters, the older of which is quantitative and used chiefly in classical ( Ancient Greek and Latin) poetry and the newer of which is accentual and used in medieval and modern poetry. The term is often used when a line of iambic pentameter contains 11 syllables.
What is a hendecasyllable poem?
The hendecasyllable (Portuguese: hendecassílabo) is a common meter in Portuguese poetry. The best-known Portuguese poem composed in hendecasyllables is Luís de Camões ' Lusiads, which begins as follows: As armas e os barões assinalados, Que da ocidental praia Lusitana,
What are the different types of hendecasyllabic verse?
Another form of hendecasyllabic verse is the “ Alcaic ” (Latin: hendecasyllabus alcaicus; used in the Alcaic stanza ), which has the pattern: The third form of hendecasyllabic verse is the “ Sapphic ” (Latin: hendecasyllabus sapphicus; so named for its use in the Sapphic stanza ), with the pattern:
What is Catullus most famous poem?
Catullus is renowned for his love poems, particularly the 25 poems addressed to a woman named Lesbia, of which Catullus 5 is perhaps the most famous. Scholars generally believe that Lesbia was a pseudonym for Clodia and that the name Lesbia is likely an homage to Sappho, who came from the isle of Lesbos.
Does iambic pentameter have 11 syllables?
A given line may have 9 , 11 or even 12 syllables instead of 10. And variations in Iambic Pentameter can extend even further. Shakespeare will sometimes intersperse the overall 10 syllable pattern with 6 syllable lines – called squinting lines (a term coined by George Wright).
How many Catullus poems are about Lesbia?
25Lesbia is the subject of 25 of Catullus' 116 surviving poems, and these display a wide range of emotions (see Catullus 85), ranging from tender love (e. g. Catullus 5, Catullus 7), to sadness and disappointment (e.g. Catullus 72), and to bitter sarcasm (e.g. Catullus 8), following the often unsteady course of Catullus' ...
What meter does Catullus use?
Dactylic pentameter: Sapphic The Sapphic meter takes its name from the Greek poetry of Sappho who wrote in the sixth century B.C. on the island of Lesbos. Catullus imitates one of her poems in Poem 51 but uses the Sapphic meter in Poem 11 as well. The meter is one based on quatrains.
What is a 12 line stanza called?
A 12-line poem is considered a Rondeau Prime, a form of French poetry, though it usually consists of a septet (7 lines) plus a cinquain (5 lines).
What is it called when a poem has 9 syllables per line?
A nonet is a nine-line poem. In the nonet form, each line contains specific, descending syllable counts. The first line contains nine syllables, the second line contains eight, the third line contains seven, and so on. The last line of nonet poetry contains one syllable.
What happened between Catullus and Lesbia?
Like many disil- lusioned people, Catullus hoped that love would make him whole in some way, but through his tumultuous relationship with Lesbia, he discovers that being in “love” only makes him insecure and obsessive.
Why are Catullus poems important?
Historian Norman Cantor in his book Antiquity wrote that Catullus' poetry served as a “counterbalance” to the idealism, public-mindedness, and optimism of his contemporary Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Why was Catullus important?
Catullus, in full Gaius Valerius Catullus, (born c. 84 bce, Verona, Cisalpine Gaul—died c. 54 bce, Rome), Roman poet whose expressions of love and hatred are generally considered the finest lyric poetry of ancient Rome. In 25 of his poems he speaks of his love for a woman he calls Lesbia, whose identity is uncertain.
What is hendecasyllabic meter?
In poetry, a hendecasyllable is a line of eleven syllables. The term "hendecasyllabic" is used to refer to two different poetic meters, the older of which is quantitative and used chiefly in classical (Ancient Greek and Latin) poetry and the newer of which is accentual and used in medieval and modern poetry.
What is lamb poem?
An iamb is a two-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which one unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.
What is a 11 line poem called?
Terza Rima A type of poetry consisting of 10 or 11 syllable lines arranged in three-line tercets. Verse A single metrical line of poetry.
What is a hendecasyllable?
The hendecasyllable ( endecasílabo) is less pervasive in Spanish poetry than in Italian or Portuguese, but it is commonly used with Italianate verse forms like sonnets and ottava rima. An example of the latter is Alonso de Ercilla 's epic La Araucana, which opens as follows:
What is the third form of hendecasyllabic verse?
The third form of hendecasyllabic verse is the “ Sapphic ” (Latin: hendecasyllabus sapphicus; so named for its use in the Sapphic stanza ), with the pattern: – ⏓ – ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ – –. Forty-three of Catullus's poems are hendecasyllabic; for an example, see Catullus 1 .
What is the pattern of the Phalaecian?
The pattern of the “ Phalaecian ” (Latin: hendecasyllabus phalaecius) is as follows (using “–” for a long syllable, “⏑” for a short and “⏓” for an “ anceps ” or variable syllable): ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏓ (where ⏓ ⏓ is one of – ⏑ or – – or ⏑ –) Another form of hendecasyllabic verse is the “ Alcaic ” (Latin: hendecasyllabus alcaicus;
What is the seventh syllable of a hendecasyllable called?
Lesser hendecasyllables often have an accent on the seventh syllable ( "fàtta di giòco in figùra d'amóre" ). Such a line is called dactylic ( dattilico) and its less pronounced rhythm is considered particularly appropriate for representing dialogue.
What is the hendecasyllable in Italian poetry?
The hendecasyllable ( Italian: endecasillabo) is the principal metre in Italian poetry. Its defining feature is a constant stress on the tenth syllable, so that the number of syllables in the verse may vary, equaling eleven in the usual case where the final word is stressed on the penultimate syllable.
What is the hendecasyllable meter in Portuguese?
Novo Reino, que tanto sublimaram. In Portuguese, the hendecasyllable meter is often called "decasyllable" ( decassílabo ), even when the work in question uses overwhelmingly feminine rhymes (as is the case with the Lusiads ).
What is the first case of a hemistich?
The first case is called endecasillabo a minore, or lesser hendecasyllable, and has the first hemistich equivalent to a quinario; the second is called endecasillabo a maiore, or greater hendecasyllable, and has a settenario as the first hemistich.
Who was Catullus?
54 BC) lived in the waning days of the Roman Republic, just before the Imperial era that began with Augustus. Catullus is the chief representative of a school of poets known as the poetae novi or neoteroi, both terms meaning "the new poets". Their poems were a bold departure from traditional models, being relatively short and describing everyday occurrences and intense personal feelings; by contrast, traditional poetry was generally large and epic, describing titanic battles among heroes and gods. These avant-garde poets drew inspiration from earlier Greek authors, especially Sappho and Callimachus; Catullus himself used Sapphic meter in two poems, Catullus 11 and 51, the second of which is almost a translation. His poems are written in a variety of meters, with hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets being the most common by far.
Who published Catullus's works?
In 1577, J. J. Scaliger published an emended version of Catullus' works, using the then novel genealogical method of textual criticism.
What is Catullus' most famous poem?
His poems are written in a variety of meters, with hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets being the most common by far. Catullus is renowned for his love poems, particularly the 25 poems addressed to a woman named Lesbia, of which Catullus 5 is perhaps the most famous.
What meter did Catullus use?
These avant-garde poets drew inspiration from earlier Greek authors, especially Sappho and Callimachus; Catullus himself used Sapphic meter in two poems, Catullus 11 and 51, the second of which is almost a translation. His poems are written in a variety of meters, with hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets being the most common by far.
How many copies of Catullus' manuscript are there?
Hence, Catullus' works depend on three surviving copies of the single V manuscript. The first printed edition ( edito princeps) of Catullus appeared in Venice in 1472; the following year, Francesco Puteolano published the second printed edition in Parma. For fourteen centuries ( c. 1st century BC- c.
How were Catullus' poems copied?
For fourteen centuries ( c. 1st century BC- c. 14th century AD), the poems of Catullus were copied by hand from other hand-written copies, a process that gradually led to a few errors in the received text. Scholars have applied methods of textual criticism to undo these errors and reconstruct Catullus' original text as much as possible.
What are the three groups of Catullus' poems?
Catullus' poems can be divided into three groups: the polymetrics (poems 1–60) the long poems (poems 61–68) the epigrams (poems 69–116)
Who is reading Catullus?
Hildemar of Corbie appears to echo Catullus in 841 CE, and Hiericus of Auxerre quotes a phrase from Catullus in 873 CE. Bishop Rather, who organized the scriptorium of Verona, records in 965 CE that he is reading Catullus, whom he had not read before.
What is Catullus's poetry?
Although taking poetic statements as autobiographical fact presents difficulties, the poetry suggests a general and probable outline. Catullus was born in Verona, the son of a man prominent enough to be on social terms with Julius Caesar.
What is the name of the poem that Catullus contrasts with Volusius's poetry?
In poem 36, Annales Volusi, cacata carta (Annals of Volusius, shitty sheets), Catullus contrasts the traditional, epic poetry of Volusius with his own refined new poetry.
What was the role of Gaius Valerius Catullus in Augustan poetry?
In Rome, Catullus and his generation, the “new poets,” played an essential role in the development of Augustan poetry. They helped to create the possibility that one might be a poet by profession.
Where did Catullus and Cinna go when their brother died?
When Catullus’s brother died he spent some time back in Verona (poem 68), and he wrote of traveling to his brother’s grave in Asia Minor near Troy (poem 101), an event that may have taken place while Catullus was in Bithynia.
When did Catullus die?
Jerome’s dates indicate Catullus was dead in 57 BCE, before events that he writes about: Caesar’s invasion of Britain (mentioned in poems 11, 29, and 45) took place in 55 BCE, the same year as Pompey’s second consulship (poem 113) and the building of his portico (poem 55). Two explanations have been offered.
What did Catullus' experiments in lyric create?
Nevertheless, Catullus’s experiments in lyric created new opportunities not only for expression but also for feeling. He and his generation taught Roman poets the use of learning and tradition, the power and limits of poetry, and the uncanny depths of self and society.
Overview
In classical poetry
The classical hendecasyllable is a quantitative meter used in Ancient Greece in Aeolic verse and in scolia, and later by the Roman poets Catullus and Martial. Each line has eleven syllables; hence the name, which comes from the Greek word for eleven. The heart of the line is the choriamb (– ⏑ ⏑ –). There are three different versions.
The pattern of the “Phalaecian” (Latin: hendecasyllabus phalaecius) is as follows (using “–” for …
In Italian poetry
The hendecasyllable (Italian: endecasillabo) is the principal metre in Italian poetry. Its defining feature is a constant stress on the tenth syllable, so that the number of syllables in the verse may vary, equaling eleven in the usual case where the final word is stressed on the penultimate syllable. The verse also has a stress preceding the caesura, on either the fourth or sixth syllable. The first case is called endecasillabo a minore, or lesser hendecasyllable, and has the first hemis…
In Polish poetry
The hendecasyllabic metre (Polish: jedenastozgłoskowiec) was very popular in Polish poetry, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, owing to strong Italian literary influence. It was used by Jan Kochanowski, Piotr Kochanowski (who translated Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso), Sebastian Grabowiecki, Wespazjan Kochowski and Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. The greatest Polish Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz, set his poem Grażyna in this measure. The Poli…
In Portuguese poetry
The hendecasyllable (Portuguese: hendecassílabo) is a common meter in Portuguese poetry. The best-known Portuguese poem composed in hendecasyllables is Luís de Camões' Lusiads, which begins as follows:
As armas e os barões assinalados, Que da ocidental praia Lusitana, Por mares nunca de antes navegados, Passaram ainda além da Taprobana, Em perigos e guerras esforçados, Mais do que …
In Spanish poetry
The hendecasyllable (endecasílabo) is less pervasive in Spanish poetry than in Italian or Portuguese, but it is commonly used with Italianate verse forms like sonnets and ottava rima. An example of the latter is Alonso de Ercilla's epic La Araucana, which opens as follows:
No las damas, amor, no gentilezas de caballeros canto enamorados, ni las muestras, regalos y ternezas de amorosos afectos y cuidados; mas el valor, los hechos, las proezas de aquellos esp…
In English poetry
The term "hendecasyllable" is sometimes used to describe a line of iambic pentameter with a feminine ending, as in the first line of John Keats's Endymion: "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."
See also
• hexasyllable
• octosyllable
• decasyllable
• dodecasyllable
• iambic pentameter