C A D

1

ACCENTUAL VERSE Rhythm deriving from
stress falling or not falling on a syllable, rather than on
the length (quantity) of a syllable, is said to be accen-
tual. Old English poetry, as in BEOWULF or The DREAM
OF THE ROOD, is rigorously accentual. Its line has four
stresses, bound by ALLITERATION, admitting a variable,
although not unlimited, number of unstressed sylla-
bles. Accentual syllabic verse, which emerged in the
later Middle Ages under French infl uence, uses a
strictly controlled pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables to defi ne the line.
The terminology of Greco-Roman quantitative verse
has been adapted to describe accentual syllabic verse’s
metrical pattern or “feet” of stressed and unstressed syl-
lables. A line will be composed of a given number of the
same foot. For example, a great deal of 16th-century
English poetry is written in pentameter (fi ve feet) or
hexameter (six feet) lines. The most common metrical
feet are trochee (two syllables with the stress on the fi rst
[happy]), iamb (two syllables with the stress on the sec-
ond [delight]), dactyl (three syllables with the stress on
the fi rst [merrily]), anapest (three syllables with the
stress on the last [cavalier]). The spondee (two stressed
syllables [heartbreak]) and Pyrrhic (two unstressed syl-
lables [in the]) may be introduced for variation.

Helen Conrad-O’Briain

ACROSTIC An acrostic is a poem more con-
cerned with wordplay than with any specifi c rhyme or

rhythm. In an acrostic poem, certain letters—usually

the fi rst in the line—form a name, word, or message

that relates to the subject of the poem. Acrostics have a

venerable history; at least two appear in the Bible. They

were also popular among early Christians and monks,

as well as with later poets. CYNEWULF signed his poems

using runes that formed an acrostic.

See also DAVIES, SIR JOHN.

“A DA M L AY B OU N D” ANONYMOUS (15th cen-

tury) This eight-line lyric, extant in a single 15th-cen-

tury manuscript, testifi es to the cult of the Virgin Mary

in the late Middle Ages. The anonymous author tells a

story through the lyric: Adam and all humanity were

once damned to hell because of Adam’s disobedience,

but the Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ, who offers the

opportunity for salvation. The poet’s true focus con-

cerns not Adam and his act of disobedience but, rather,

Mary’s crucial role in the process of salvation. The

poem ultimately celebrates Mary’s appearance in his-

tory, proclaiming it a good thing that Adam took the

forbidden fruit.

The poem begins on a seemingly grim note, refer-

ring to Adam’s confi nement in hell for 4,000 years or

more: “Adam lay ybounden, bounden in a bond” (l. 1).

The “bond” points to the new contract with God that

Adam initiated when he ate the forbidden fruit. The

verse form, however, with its trochaic and anapestic

elements (see ACCENTUAL VERSE) establishes an almost

jaunty rhythm. Even reference to what should be a