components of stanzas of two, three, or four lines. We do not find, as in the
Veda, stanzas composed of three or four lines of the same form; at least
one will be different. In Sappho fr. 94, for instance, the stanza consists of
two glyconics and a third line which is an expanded glyconic, ××−∪∪−
∪∪−∪− ||. In fr. 98 it is two glyconics and a third line in which a glyconic
is prefixed with −∪−. The same principle of an extended third line is
seen in the so-called us
̇
nih
̇metre of certain early Vedic hymns (e.g. RV 3. 10;- 12–13, 15, 18, 23–6; 9. 102–7) in which the third of the three octosyllables
is extended by a repetition of the four-syllable cadence: ××××∪−∪− | ∪−
∪− ||.
This iambic tetrasyllabic element has some similarity to the first part of
those eleven- and twelve-syllable verses in which the caesura falls after four
syllables, since they tend to have the second and fourth syllables long.
What follows the caesura then resembles the independent octosyllable or its
catalectic heptasyllabic counterpart. Where the caesura comes after five
syllables, what precedes it may be identified as the pentasyllabic colon ×−∪––−
× | which can also appear, in duplicate, to form a recognized type of verse
calleddvipada ̄ vira ̄j; the rest of the line is equivalent to a headless octosyllable
or heptasyllable.
In other words, if we designate the standard octosyllable as G, its catalectic
and acephalic versions as G^^ and ^^G, and the tetra- and pentasyllabic com-
plements as 4 and 5, we can analyse the eleven-syllable verse as 4 | G^^ || or 5 |
^^G^^ ||, the twelve-syllable as 4 | G || or 5 | ^^G ||, and the us ̇nih ̇ stanza as G || G ||
G | 4 |||.
Similar formulae can be applied to Greek lyric verse, with G here realized
as the glyconic (gl), 4 as the iambic metron ×−∪− (ia), and 5 as the
penthemimer×−∪−× (pe). For instance, Alcaeus’ fragments 140 and
358–60 Voigt are composed in stanzas made up of gl + gl + ia (G G 4), while
in fragments 70 and 117b the first and third lines of the strophe consist of
ia+ gl (4 G). The combination of ia + telesillean (4 ^^G) forms the first two
lines of the frequently used Alcaic stanza.
The iambic dimeter, ×−∪−×−∪− (2ia), can be regarded as an alterna-
tive realization of the G pattern. Again, the Vedic octosyllable may take this
form. Examples from the same hymn as cited above (RV 6. 54) are 1b yó
áñjasa ̄nus ́a ̄ ́sati, 3a Pu ̄s
̇
n
̇ás ́ cakrám
̇ná ris
̇yati, 6a Pu ̄ ́s
̇ann ánu prá ga ̄ ́ ihi. The
iambic trimeter (3ia) then appears as the counterpart of the Vedic twelve-
syllable line, particularly in its 5 | ^^G || form, as it too normally has its caesura
after the fifth syllable. When Archilochus (frs. 172–81) and Hipponax (fr. 118)
use stanzas composed of trimeters and dimeters in alternation, this is entirely
parallel to Vedic strophes of the forms 12 || 8 || 12 || 8 ||| (called satobr
̇
hatı ̄),
12 || 12 || 8 ||| (kr
̇
ti), 12 || 8 || 8 ||| (pura-us
̇n
̇ih
̇), etc.- Poet and Poesy 49