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Glite Dictionary
Sapphic

Sapphic

9.9
A line or stanza in a poem that uses the rhythm Sappho used
  • noun
  • /ˈsæfɪk/
  • Literature
translation icon : sáfica
  • The poem featured a traditional Sapphic stanza, showcasing its unique rhythmic pattern.

Examples

  • In her latest collection, the author experimented with various forms, including the Sapphic meter.

  • Many classic works of poetry incorporate the Sapphic meter to create lyrical beauty.

  • Thus were the meters created: alcaic, asclepiad, hexameter, iambic, trochaic, as well as the stanza forms: the Sapphic, the Pindaric, etc.

    Academic text (2007)

Compounds

Sapphic ode
  • Literature
9.9

A poem in four-line stanzas that follows an old Greek rhythm, often about love or strong feeling

Surface Forms

Sapphic singular
Sapphics plural

Morphology

Sapphic = Sappho (transparent) = Sappho + ic

The adjective is formed by adding the productive suffix '-ic' to the proper name 'Sappho', yielding 'relating to Sappho' which directly accounts for the metrical sense.

Etymology

The word Sapphic comes from the name Sappho, a famous ancient Greek poet who wrote lines with a special rhythm or meter. So a Sapphic in poetry means a line or stanza in the meter she used, like calling a style 'Shakespearean' after Shakespeare.