Greek Verse, the beginnings.
Elegiac Couplet used by Homer is made up of Classical Hexameter line followed by a Classical Pentameter line. Although the Greeks sometimes used the couplet in epic poetry, the Romans commonly used the couplet in love poetry. It was said that Cupid stole a metric foot from the 2nd line and the couplet became known as the “meter of love”.
The Elegiac Couplet is a complete couplet, a contained thought within the two lines. The couplet can stand alone or can be written in a series of verse.
The two immortals stepped briskly as wild doves,
quivering, keen to defend the fighting men of Argos.
from Homer’s Iliad 189.896-‘7, 8th century BC
translation by Robert Fagels Princeton University 1997
with spondees LL-LL-LL-LL-Lss-LL
Lss-Lss-LL-ssL-ssL
with dactyls
Lss-Lss-Lss-Lss-Lss-LL
Lss-Lss-LL-ssL-ssL
Traveling through the mucked maze without knowledge of where to find true love,
placing our trust without checks, balances, life on the edge.
— Judi Van Gorder
- Classical Hexameter line, sometimes known as the Classical Heroic line, is the first line of the Elegiac couplet. A 13 or 17 syllable line depending on whether it is written leading with spondees or dactyls. The measure is quantitative verse in 6 metric feet. The line can be written with either 4 spondees or dactyls, followed by a dactyl and a spondee in that order.
with spondees . . . LL-LL-LL-LL-Lss-LL
with dactyls . . . . Lss-Lss-Lss-Lss-Lss-LL
Traveling through the mucked maze without knowledge of where to find true love,
- Classical Pentameter line is the second line of the Elegiac couplet. A 14 syllable line in quantitative verse, 5 metric feet made up of 2 dactyls, followed by a spondee, and 2 anapests in that order.
Lss-Lss-LL-ssL-ssL
placing our trust without checks, balances, life on the edge.
Pasted from Poetry Magnum Opus, with thanks to Judi Van Gorder for years of work on this fine PMO resource.