Molossus (poetry)
Encyclopedia
A molossus is a metrical foot used in Greek and Latin poetry
. It consists of three long syllables. Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri, cantabant, virtutem.
In English poetry, syllables are usually categorized as being either stressed or unstressed, rather than long or short, and the molossus does not appear, but one possible example of an English molossus has been found in Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. It consists of three long syllables. Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri, cantabant, virtutem.
In English poetry, syllables are usually categorized as being either stressed or unstressed, rather than long or short, and the molossus does not appear, but one possible example of an English molossus has been found in Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
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- As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage
- Man's mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells