Elegiac couplet¶
elegiac_couplet · form · validated
A dactylic hexameter followed by a pentameter, the pair forming one unit of sense.
Provenance¶
- Source: Traditional; classical Greek and Latin elegy
- Attribution:
traditional— classical or folk; no single origin to name - Checkability:
self— decidable from the text and its parameters alone - Attested:
codified— formulated as a rule by a tradition rather than declared by an author
Details¶
- Kind: restrictive
- Languages: en
- Requires:
tokens,stress,syllables.heuristic - Deterministic: yes
- Also known as: distich
- In other languages: Elegisches Distichon (de), Distique élégiaque (fr)
Notes¶
The pair forming one unit of sense is the form's point and is not checked — sense is not a property this or any checker can read. The row is declared for English only, and no German fixture lands for it: German accentual hexameter puts the ictus where word stress does not fall — Schiller's own "Hexameter" is stressed 0100 and carries the beat regardless — and ADR 0040 D4 declines to model that.
Prompt hint¶
Pair a six-foot line with a shorter one, each pair complete in itself.
Examples¶
dactyl-hexameter-then-pentameter¶
en — this text satisfies the procedure.
murmuring murmuring murmuring murmuring murmuring forest
murmuring murmuring song murmuring murmuring stone
Source: constructed from the satisfying strategy's own shape
odd-line-count-is-rejected¶
en — this text does not satisfy the procedure.
murmuring murmuring murmuring murmuring murmuring forest
Source: constructed counterexample
empty-text-is-not-vacuous¶
en — this text does not satisfy the procedure.
Source: constructed counterexample
unknown-word-mid-line¶
en — this text satisfies the procedure.
flurbishly murmuring murmuring murmuring murmuring forest
murmuring murmuring song murmuring murmuring stone
Source: constructed example; an invented word reaches the stress fallback
hexameter-dann-pentameter¶
de — this text satisfies the procedure.
Nebelung Nebelung Nebelung Nebelung Nebelung Morgen
Ostermond Ostermond Wald Ostermond Ostermond Wald
Source: constructed example; tiles German words of known stress