Elegiac Couplets

Level 6

Hexameter, then pentameter: six feet, then two halves of two and a half feet.

How It Works

LinePattern
hexametersix feet, each a dactyl or a spondee, as in the epic line
pentameter, first halfdactyl or spondee, dactyl or spondee, one long syllable
pentameter, second halfdactyl, dactyl, one long syllable

Take Ovid's line Attice, crede mihi, militat omnis amans. The first half is at-ti-ce | cre-de-mi | hi, and the second half is mi-li-tat | om-nis-a | mans.

The pentameter often ends the couplet with a short, sharp phrase.

An elegiac poem is a run of such couplets, and each couplet usually closes a thought.

Examples (4)

  1. Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.

    I hate and I love. Why I do it, you may ask.

    Catullus 85.1, the hexameter. It scans as dactyl, spondee, dactyl, spondee, dactyl, spondee.

  2. Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

    I do not know, but I feel it happening, and I am tormented.

    Catullus 85.2, the pentameter. Each half has two dactyls and a long syllable.

  3. Militat omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido;

    Every lover is a soldier, and Cupid has his own camp;

    Ovid, Amores 1.9.1, the hexameter that opens the poem. The pentameter follows it.

  4. Attice, crede mihi, militat omnis amans.

    Atticus, believe me, every lover is a soldier.

    Ovid, Amores 1.9.2, the pentameter. It repeats the opening words of the hexameter.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Elegiac CoupletsLevel 6

Learn This First

The elegiac couplet starts with a hexameter.