A molossus (/məˈlɒsəs/) is a metrical foot used in Greek and Latin poetry. It consists of three long syllables.[1] Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri, cantabant, virtutem.
In English poetry, syllables are usually categorized as being either stressed or unstressed, rather than long or short, and the unambiguous molossus rarely appears, as it is too easily interpreted as two feet (and thus a metrical fault) or as having at least one destressed syllable.
Perhaps the best example of a molossus is the repeated refrain of no birds sing in the first and last verse of John Keats' poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" (1819) especially for the way it forces the reader to slow down, which is the poetic essence of this metrical foot.
Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has withered from the lake And no birds sing.
The title of Lord Tennyson's poem "Break, Break, Break" (1842) is sometimes cited as a molossus, but in context it can only be three separate feet:
Break, / break, / break, At the foot / of thy crags, / O sea; But the ten- / -der grace / of the day / that is dead Will never / come back / to me.
Clement Wood proposes as a more convincing instance: great white chief,[1] of which an example occurs in "Ballads of a Cheechako" (1907) by Robert W. Service:
For thus the / Great White Chief / hath said, / "In all / my lands / be peace".[2]
However, given that the previous lines[3] in the stanza are constructed predominantly in iambic heptameter – a common form for ballad stanza – it is more likely that the meter appears as:
For thus / the Great / White Chief / hath said, / "In all / my lands / be peace".
The double stress on "White Chief" comes from the substitution of a spondee in place of the iamb, mirroring previous substitutions in the poem, rather than a molossus.
As a dare-gale / skylark / scanted in a / dull cage Man's mounting / spirit in his / bone-house, / mean house, dwells
If both lines are scanned as four feet, without extra stress on dwells, then the words in boldface become a molossus. Another example that has been given[5] is wild-goose-chase, but this requires that there be no stress on chase, seeing that in Thomas Clarke's "Erotophuseos" (1840), we have:
And led / me im- / -percept- / -ibly, A wild- / goose chase, / far far / away,
molossus, poetry, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, molossus, poetry, news, newspapers, books, scholar. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Molossus poetry news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message A molossus m e ˈ l ɒ s e s is a metrical foot used in Greek and Latin poetry It consists of three long syllables 1 Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri cantabant virtutem Metrical feet and accentsDisyllables pyrrhic dibrach iamb trochee choree spondeeTrisyllables tribrach dactyl amphibrach anapaest antidactylus bacchius antibacchius cretic amphimacer molossusSee main article for tetrasyllables vteIn English poetry syllables are usually categorized as being either stressed or unstressed rather than long or short and the unambiguous molossus rarely appears as it is too easily interpreted as two feet and thus a metrical fault or as having at least one destressed syllable Perhaps the best example of a molossus is the repeated refrain of no birds sing in the first and last verse of John Keats poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci 1819 especially for the way it forces the reader to slow down which is the poetic essence of this metrical foot Oh what can ail thee knight at arms Alone and palely loitering The sedge has withered from the lake And no birds sing The title of Lord Tennyson s poem Break Break Break 1842 is sometimes cited as a molossus but in context it can only be three separate feet Break break break At the foot of thy crags O sea But the ten der grace of the day that is dead Will never come back to me Clement Wood proposes as a more convincing instance great white chief 1 of which an example occurs in Ballads of a Cheechako 1907 by Robert W Service For thus the Great White Chief hath said In all my lands be peace 2 However given that the previous lines 3 in the stanza are constructed predominantly in iambic heptameter a common form for ballad stanza it is more likely that the meter appears as For thus the Great White Chief hath said In all my lands be peace The double stress on White Chief comes from the substitution of a spondee in place of the iamb mirroring previous substitutions in the poem rather than a molossus In one literary dictionary a dubious candidate is given from Gerard Manley Hopkins 4 As a dare gale skylark scanted in a dull cage Man s mounting spirit in his bone house mean house dwells If both lines are scanned as four feet without extra stress on dwells then the words in boldface become a molossus Another example that has been given 5 is wild goose chase but this requires that there be no stress on chase seeing that in Thomas Clarke s Erotophuseos 1840 we have And led me im percept ibly A wild goose chase far far away where clearly there is no molossus See also editEn rythme molossique an etude for piano by Charles Valentin Alkan that uses the rhythm of the molossus as a themeReferences edit a b Clement Wood Ted Robinson 1943 Unabridged Rhyming Dictionary World Publishing Company Robert William Service 1910 Ballads of a Cheechako by Robert W Service nbsp Works related to Clancy of the Mounted Police at Wikisource A dictionary of literary terms and literary theory By John Anthony Cuddon Claire Preston Wiley Blackwell 1998 The Psychology of Art By Robert Morris Ogden C Scribner s Sons 1938 Page 107 nbsp This poetry related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Molossus poetry amp oldid 1125052271, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
