common metre

noun

a stanza form, used esp for hymns, consisting of four lines, two of eight syllables alternating with two of six

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This is the common metre for narrative, didactic, and descriptive poetry.

It is all written in "common metre," nearly all in lines of eight and six syllables alternately.

One of its forms has in hymn-books the designation of Common Metre.

Another very common metre in the Dramas consists of stanzas of eight lines of seven syllables, rhyming alternately.

The trochaic septenarius, also a common metre in the drama, consists of seven trochees and an additional long syllable.

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