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hexameter
(Encyclopedia)hexameter hĕksămˈətər [key] [Gr.,=measure of six], in prosody, a line to be scanned in six feet (see versification). The most celebrated hexameter measure is dactylic, which was the meter for mos...Nonnus
(Encyclopedia)Nonnus nŏnˈəs [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Greek poet, b. Panopolis, Egypt. His extant epic, Dionysiaca (in 48 books), a collection of legends about Dionysus, has innovations in meter that predict the la...Homeric Hymns
(Encyclopedia)Homeric Hymns hōmĕrˈĭk [key], name applied to a body of 34 hexameter poems falsely attributed to Homer by the ancients. Composed probably between 800 and 300 b.c., they are complimentary verses ad...elegy
(Encyclopedia)elegy, in Greek and Roman poetry, a poem written in elegiac verse (i.e., couplets consisting of a hexameter line followed by a pentameter line). The form dates back to 7th cent. b.c. in Greece and poe...alexandrine
(Encyclopedia)alexandrine ălˌĭgzănˈdrēnˌ, –drīnˌ [key], in prosody, a line of 12 syllables (or 13 if the last syllable is unstressed). Its name probably derives from the fact that some poems of the 12th ...Ennius, Quintus
(Encyclopedia)Ennius, Quintus kwĭnˈtəs ĕnˈēəs [key], 239–169? b.c., Latin poet, regarded by the Romans as the father of Latin poetry, b. Calabria. His birthplace was the meeting point of three civilization...versification
(Encyclopedia)versification, principles of metrical practice in poetry. In different literatures poetic form is achieved in various ways; usually, however, a definite and predictable pattern is evident in the langu...Lucretius
(Encyclopedia)Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) lo͞okrēˈshəs [key], c.99 b.c.–c.55 b.c., Roman poet and philosopher. Little is known about his life. A chronicle of St. Jerome speaks of the loss of his reason ...Spenser, Edmund
(Encyclopedia)Spenser, Edmund, 1552?–1599, English poet, b. London. He was the friend of men eminent in literature and at court, including Gabriel Harvey, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Robert Sidney,...Homer
(Encyclopedia)Homer, principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. The Odyssey is written in 24 books and begins nearly ten years after the fall of Troy. In the first part, Telemachus, Od...Browse by Subject
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