Galliambic

Galliambic metre is constructed as shown below:

˘ ˘ – ˘ – ˘ – –// ˘ ˘ – ˘ ˘ ˘ ˘ ×

This metre, meant for the frenzied cult of the eastern goddess Cybele, is best known from its use in Catullus 63. The meter admits of many substitutions of two short syllables for a long, as in line 63, the longest line in the poem:

Ěgǒ mǔlǐěr, ěgo adǒlēscēns, ěgo ěphēbǔs, ěgǒ pǔêr - Catullus 63 Line 63

  • The syllaba anceps has been shown with a circumflex (â).

Modern use

Alfred, Lord Tennyson used the Galliambic metre for his poem, Boadicea[1].

Although Catullus 63 is not typically translated directly into Galliambics, as they present more of a challenge in English, Peter Green did so for his 2005 edition of the complete poems of Catullus.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Boadicea - Alfred Lord Tennyson". www.poemhunter.com. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  2. ↑ Green, Peter (2005). The Poems of Catullus: A Bilingual Edition. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. xi. ISBN 0-520-24264-5. Someone bet me I couldn't do a version of 63... into English galliambics ... I took the bet... my version was accepted.


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