hemistich

1. A half line of verse, especially when separated rhythmically from the rest of the line by a caesura.
2. An incomplete or imperfect line of verse.

[Latin hēmistichium, from Greek hēmistikhion : hēmi-, hemi- + stikhos, line.]

hemistich [hem‐i‐stik], a half‐line of verse, either standing as an unfinished line for dramatic or other emphasis, or forming half of a complete line divided by a caesura. In the second sense, the hemistich is an important structural unit of the early Germanic alliterative metre. In verse drama, dialogue in which characters exchange short utterances of half a line is known as hemistichomythia

see stichomythia). Adjective: hemistichic.

The approximate half of a line of poetic verse, usually divided by a cæsura. In dramatic poetry it is used whenever characters exchange short bursts of dialogue rapidly, heightening the effect of quarrelsome disagreement; in classical poetry such a series is called hemistichomythia. Other types of poetry may use an occasional hemistich to give the effect of emotionally disturbed thought or action.