stichic verse
- noun
- /ˈstɪkɪk vɜrs/
- Literature
:
verso estíco
- Epic poetry in ancient Greece often employed stichic verse rather than grouping lines into stanzas.
Examples
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The unbroken flow of stichic verse gives the poem a steady and continuous rhythm.
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Her latest collection contrasts stichic verse with stanzaic forms to highlight differences in structure.
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The poem is written in stichic verse.
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Many ancient texts feature stichic verses.
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Epic poetry in ancient Greece often employed stichic verse rather than grouping lines into stanzas.
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The unbroken flow of stichic verse gives the poem a steady and continuous rhythm.
-
Her latest collection contrasts stichic verse with stanzaic forms to highlight differences in structure.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'stichic' (poetry in unbroken lines/no stanzas) with 'verse' (lines of poetry); together they indicate poetry made of continuous lines rather than stanzas. Although 'stichic' is a specialist literary term, the semantic composition is transparent, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun stichic verse comes from the part stichic, an old word meaning 'line', and verse meaning poem lines, so imagine lines standing in a long row. Because the lines are the same length and not grouped into 'stanzas', the term now describes poetry that flows on without stanza breaks.
