Sapphic Meter and Sapphic Verse.
Sappho wrote in many meters and styles. Yet, there is one style referred to as Sapphic verse and Sapphic Ode that is more noteworthy for its frequency of use as well as its originality and beauty. That is the form this tutorial is about.
Poor Amera was so confused by my explanations that she about gave up ever wanting to write this form. So, for her sake I have taken some time to put my thoughts in order here for everyone to view.
Sapphic Verse is a hendecasyllabic line (eleven syllables) with a very specialized rhythmical structure. It is used in the Sapphic stanza, which consists of three hendecasyllabic lines and a forth line, known as the adonic line, which has five syllables. So far, so good.
Here is where the difficulty comes in. In English poetry, as well as most other forms adapted to English, the meter consists of accented and non-accented syllables in very strict order. Part of the problem with Sapphic verse is that it allows for much more freedom in some ways, making it harder to get a good rhythm in your head as a template to work from. So, I am going to solve that problem and fill up those pesky options and decide for you. Here I present Allan’s easy version of Sapphic verse.
First, three hendecasyllabic lines of: trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
Followed by one line of: dactyl, trochee
If you look you will see that each of the first three lines consists of 5 feet. It is confusing because 4 of those five feet have two syllables and one has three. A very difficult rhythm to hear in your head. So I have devised a method of counting to make it much easier.
In music, certain notes are accented. When they are accented out of the normal rhythm it is called syncopated. Sapphic verse is a syncopated rhythm and, therefore, very difficult to hear. However, we can change the beat values just a little and make it an easy rhythm to hear and understand. Let me show you.
In beat counting, a long syllable is two beats and a short syllable one. So the hendecasyllabic line would look like this:
trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
xx x xx x xx x x xx x xx x
or
DUM de DUM de DUM de de DUM de DUM de
Two x’s and DUM’s representing a long or stressed syllable that takes up two beats and one x or de representing a short or un-stressed syllable that only takes one beat. So, all trochees have 3 beats and the dactyl has four. But we are going to cheat now and rob one syllable of its rhythm. We are going to take the first syllable of the dactyl and we are going to rob it of a beat. You would count each foot like a measure of three beats in music, like a waltz.
trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
xx x xx x X x x xx x xx x
or
DUM de DUM de De de de DUM de DUM de
By doing this we now make all feet three beats. Instead of accenting the first syllable of the dactyl by stretching it to two beats, we do it by hitting the drum harder, saying it louder. So, the de de de foot now has the same number of beats as the other feet. This now makes reciting the poetry easier and more melodic.
To make a Sapphic stanza one would make three of the lines as described above and then one end line reading:
dactyl, trochee
X x x xx x
Or
De de de DUM de
We have robbed the dactyl of it’s first beat again, so as to make both feet have three beats. Here it is written out musically for those with such a background.
If you read the following poem using these rhythmical devices I have laid out, you will see how easy it is to hear the melody of the poetry.
Sapphic Ode to Amera
She is like a vision of truth and beauty,
Gifting to us glimpses of love’s desire,
Cunning words requiring such skill and duty.
My heart’s on fire.
Every day I log onto my computer
Looking to devour each phrase she’s sharing.
She allows I play as her chosen suitor,
Nurturing, caring.
(If it won't play, right click, copy shortcut, paste in browser, enter)
Sapphic verse does not need to rhyme, I just did so because Amera likes it. I used 'desire' and 'requiring' as three-syllable words and 'fire' as a two-syllable word. I also used 'devour' as a three-syllable word in stanza two. (For any English people who don’t know these things).
.
The Sapphic stanza was imitated in English by Algernon Charles Swinburne in a poem he simply called Sapphics:
- Saw the white implacable Aphrodite,
- Saw the hair unbound and the feet unsandalled
- Shine as fire of sunset on western waters;
- Saw the reluctant. . .
For those of you hard core poets (probably from Lesbos, but who knows) I have also included below the true and actual description of Sapphic verse.
amphimacer, anceps, dactyl, amphimacer, anceps (3X)
choriamb, anceps (1X)
This is, I believe, the only correct way to write it. This is the true rhythm. We have three feet with three syllables each, then two free syllables interjected. Or, if you want you can think of the amphimacer-ancep combination as being either a choriamb or a primus paeon and have two four-syllable feet surrounding the three-syllable dactyl. This makes it much easier for me to hear the rhythm. Regardless of how you view that, I still think of the last line as a choriamb and an anceps.
I will diagram it with 3 symbols. L for long or stressed syllable, s for short or unstressed syllable, and F for free syllable, which can be whatever.
L s L F L s s L s L F (3X)
L s s L F (1X)
Let’s look at the possibilities with this.
.
trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
Example: Tease and tickle, games with no regulation.
.
trochee, spondee, dactyl, trochee, trochee
Example: Live a full life open to any changes.
.
trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, spondee
Example: All who play will win an exciting prize spree.
.
trochee, spondee, dactyl, trochee, spondee
Example: CricketJeff states this is the way he sees these.
Now let's look at the choices for the adonic line:
.
dactyl, trochee
Example: Eye of the needle.
.
dactyl, spondee
Example: We should drink fine wine.
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This allows for the writer to alter the flow with many stops and starts, complicated rhythms, and to make the form more conversational. Have fun.
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