weak ending, the promotion of a normally unstressed monosyllable (usually a conjunction, preposition, or auxiliary verb) to the position usually occupied by a stressed syllable at the end of an iambic line, causing a wrenched accent. In this quotation from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, both line‐endings are weak:
Friends, be gone. You shallThe weak ending may be distinguished from the feminine ending in that it places the unstressed syllable in a stress position (the 10th syllable in an iambic pentameter) rather than adding an extra 11th syllable. See also enjambment.
Have letters from me to some friends that will
Sweep your way for you.
