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Pyrrhic

 
Obscure Words: Pyrrhic
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achieved at excessive cost   a Pyrrhic victory
[after Pyrrhus, king of Epirus who sustained heavy losses in defeating the Romans]
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Poetry Glossary: Pyrrhic
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Home > Library > Literature & Language > Poetry Glossary

Common in classic Greek poetry, a metrical foot consisting of two short or unaccented syllables, as in the third foot of:

The slings - and ar - rows of - outra - geous for - tune

Wikipedia: Pyrrhic
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For other uses, see Pyrrhichios (ancient war dance), Pyrrhus of Epirus, Pyrrhic victory, and Pyrrha.
Search Wiktionary Look up pyrrhic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A pyrrhic is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables.[1] It is also known as a dibrach.

Tennyson used pyrrhics and spondees quite frequently. Here are some examples:

Be near me when my light is low,
     When the blood creeps and the nerves prick
     And tingle; and the heart is sick,
And all the wheels of Being slow.

—from In Memoriam.

Examples above include "When the" and "and the" in the second line and "-le; and" in the third.

Pyrrhics alone are not used to construct an entire poem due to the monotonous effect.[2]

References

  1. ^ Harry Rusche, A Handbook of Terms for Discussing Poetry, Emory University Department of English [1] Last accessed 20 December 2006
  2. ^ "Rhythm, Meter, and Scansion Made Easy," Riverdale School, [2] Last accessed 20 December 2006


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Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd.  Read more
Poetry Glossary. Copyright © 2007, ILOVEPOETRY, Inc, All Rights Reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pyrrhic".  Read more

 

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