Chapter 2. Meters

The first type of verse to dominate in Russia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was syllabic verse. Its principal rule was that each poetic line contained the same number of syllables. Feminine rhymes were used predominantly, and a caesura was usually placed after the fifth or seventh metrical foot. This type of versification gradually faded away after the emergence of accentual verse.

Pure accentual verse never became especially widespread in Russian literature. In accentual verse, rhythm is created through the ordered arrangement of stresses within the poetic line. This is the so-called stress verse. The number of syllables is irrelevant here.

And finally, we arrive at the type of versification that predominates in Russian poetry and which one should strive to master in order to become a reasonably accomplished poet—namely, the accentual-syllabic system. Nearly all Russian poetic meters are built upon accentual-syllabic principles. These are the forms we shall examine first.

So, there are five principal meters and a whole host of secondary ones. The principal meters are trochee, iamb, dactyl, amphibrach, and anapest. We shall examine each of them separately and then consider how they may be combined or modified properly. Incidentally, a metrical foot consists of a stressed syllable together with the unstressed syllables associated with it; this term will appear frequently from this point onward.

There is, of course, a broader classification system. It is essential to know it in order to understand how meters are constructed. This will allow you to invent your own variations freely without departing from the principles of versification. Traditional Russian meters may be divided into the following categories:

• monosyllabic meters (brachycolon): an extremely rare and awkward form in which every syllable is stressed;
• disyllabic meters (trochee and iamb): one stress falls on every two syllables;
• trisyllabic meters (dactyl, amphibrach, anapest): one stress falls on every three syllables;
• quadrisyllabic meters (trochee, iamb, paeon I, II, III, IV): one stress falls on every two or four syllables;
• pentasyllabic meters: the classical folk type, with one stress for every five syllables;
• hexasyllabic meters (including trochee, iamb, and many other forms): rarely used in Russian poetry, though widely employed in Classical verse; one or two stresses fall on every six syllables.

In Russian versification, the most commonly used meters are, in descending order of frequency: quadrisyllabic, trisyllabic, disyllabic, hexasyllabic, and pentasyllabic. Monosyllabic meters are used only rarely, most often as linguistic exercises. I would not recommend them to you unless you have already reached the limits of perfection in versification.

Trochee. The very first and simplest disyllabic meter. In trochaic verse, stresses fall on the odd-numbered syllables (1, 3, 5, and so on). A classical example of trochee:

Nevertheless, a perfectly pure trochee is rather difficult to achieve. In pure trochaic verse, words cannot exceed three syllables in length. In Bunin’s example, if we mark the stresses, we can notice that an “extra” stress falls on the syllable “-ют” in the word падают. There are no other violations of the stress pattern, but what are we to do with this one? The important thing is that the “correct” stress—the one that falls where it should—remains present. If an additional stress appears because of the natural pronunciation of the word, it is simply recited lightly and unobtrusively, almost as though unstressed. Such an omitted stress is called a pyrrhic. Here is another example of trochaic verse (also from Bunin):

Here, pyrrhics may be found on the syllable “ни” in the word “яблони,” on the letter “е” in the word “сизые,” and so forth. In other words, a four-foot trochee does not necessarily require four fully stressed syllables in every line. What matters is that there are enough stresses to make the rhythm audible—that is, to preserve the recurring stress pattern. In general, trochee is easy to use, since the meter itself is simple; most commonly, poets employ four-foot or five-foot trochee, though even two-foot trochee occasionally appears (very rarely).

Iamb. Another extremely common meter in Russian poetry. It is also disyllabic, but here the stresses fall on the even-numbered syllables (2, 4, 6). The most common forms are four-, five-, and six-foot iambic meter. For example, “Eugene Onegin” is written in four-foot iamb. Iamb is even easier to handle (may the Russian language forgive me!) than trochee.

This was an example of iambic tetrameter. Pyrrhics occur just as frequently in iamb as in trochee. Again, this is because the meter is “short,” consisting of only two syllables per foot.

Using Blok’s example, let me introduce the concept of anacrusis. Anacrusis is an unstressed syllable at the beginning of a line, before the first stressed syllable (“так,” “пуст’,” “ал-,” and “дро-”). In trochee, the anacrusis is zero; in iamb, it is monosyllabic. I promised not to overload this handbook with terminology, but a little is still permissible. The opposite concept to anacrusis is clausula. Clausula is the final stressed syllable together with all following unstressed syllables, however many there may be. Examples include “-венья,” “-ка,” and “-менья.”

And here is an example of mixed iambic verse (lines 1–3 are in iambic pentameter, lines 2–4 in iambic dimeter):

Dactyl is a trisyllabic meter in which the stresses fall predominantly on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and subsequent syllables; in other words, it is a trisyllabic foot with the stress on the first syllable. Two-foot and four-foot dactyls are the most common. However, the most versatile and effective form is the mixed dactyl—for example, with the first line in four-foot dactyl and the second in three-foot dactyl.

In fact, all trisyllabic meters look especially beautiful when lines with different numbers of feet are combined. Here is an example of five-foot dactyl:

And here is a very unusual example of six-foot dactyl with two caesuras:

Amphibrach is a trisyllabic meter in which the stresses fall predominantly on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th, and subsequent syllables. In other words, it is a trisyllabic meter with a one-syllable anacrusis: ◡|◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´◡. The most common form is four-foot amphibrach:

Here is an example of a rather rare phenomenon: six-foot amphibrach alternating with five-foot amphibrach:

Anapest is a trisyllabic meter in which the stresses fall predominantly on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, and subsequent syllables. In other words, it is a trisyllabic meter with a two-syllable anacrusis: ◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´​. The most common form is three-foot anapest.

Two-, four-, and five-foot anapests are also encountered. For example, here is a two-foot anapest:

This is the classical poem “Stanzas,” notable for its characteristic disyllabic clausula in lines 1–3, which gives it charm and a certain metrical originality.

So, we have now examined the five principal poetic meters. Make sure to use them! Of course, one must not become fixated on them exclusively, but history demonstrates that these meters are the most suitable for Russian verse, and it would be a serious mistake to ignore them in pursuit of new forms. Only after mastering the classical poetic meters completely can one move on to genuine poetic experimentation. Although… Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov, two hundred years ago—when Russian poetry itself was still taking shape and no one was yet speaking of exotic mixtures of meters—were already searching for new forms, attempting to diversify the classical Russian poetry established by Gavrila Derzhavin. That is precisely why they are great.

Paeons. These are the so-called four-syllable meters, of which there are four varieties: paeon I, paeon II, paeon III, and paeon IV. They are formed quite simply. Take a disyllabic meter (iamb or trochee) and remove every second stress from it. The result is a system of pyrrhics. Since these omissions are systematic, a new meter emerges, in which the stresses fall as follows: paeon I: syllables 1, 5, 9, and so on; paeon II: syllables 2, 6, 10, and so on; paeon III: syllables 3, 7, 11, and so on; paeon IV: syllables 4, 8, 12, and so on. I shall simply provide examples.

Paeon I.

Paeon II.

Paeon III.

In this example, paeon III is closely intertwined with ordinary trochee, which is quite common, since paeons originally require very long words—no fewer than four syllables—to construct a proper poetic line. Here, however, is a three-foot paeon III, found in Alexander Galich:

Paeon IV.

Mixing paeons I and III with trochee is not merely permissible but often quite interesting, while paeons II and IV combine naturally with iamb.

Penton (five-syllable meter) is a poetic meter consisting of five syllables with the stress on the third syllable. It belongs to the class of pentasyllabic meters. Penton was developed (or rather identified as a distinct meter) by Aleksey Koltsov and is usually employed in folk or pseudo-folk poetry. Rhyme is generally absent.

The four-beat dolnik is the most common rhythmic group in Russian poetry. The principal metrical stress in the four-beat dolnik falls on the first beat: ◡´◡◡◡ while a secondary stress falls on the third beat. It has four formal varieties:

• four-beat dolnik I: |◡´◡◡◡|
• four-beat dolnik II: ◡|◡´◡◡
• four-beat dolnik III: ◡◡|◡´◡
• four-beat dolnik IV: ◡◡◡|◡´

Conventional verse theory classifies the first and third varieties as trochaic meters, and the second and fourth as iambic ones. Poems written in four-beat dolnik are extraordinarily numerous. Russian poets developed many formal and structural models with triple, quadruple, quintuple, and sextuple scope.

Threefold four-beat dolnik I of various forms (this category also includes five-foot trochee); control sequence: |◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|:

Threefold four-beat dolnik II (this category also includes five-foot iamb); control sequence: ◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡:

Threefold four-beat dolnik III (this category also includes poems of the “Kamarinskaya” type); control sequence: ◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡:

Threefold four-beat dolnik IV, which also includes all varieties of four-foot iamb with every possible clausula; control sequence: ◡◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡◡|◡´:

Pentasyllabic dolnik. Remarkably powerful, weighty, and expressive poetry can be created using such an authentically Russian meter as the pentasyllabic dolnik. Its roots lie in folk poetry. This is a complex dual-accentual measure—a combination of trisyllabic and disyllabic rhythm. The principal metrical stress falls on the first beat of the trisyllabic unit, while the secondary stress falls on the first beat of the disyllabic segment: ◡´´◡◡|◡´◡. Like the paeon, the pentasyllabic dolnik has several (five) formal varieties depending on the position of the anacrusis and the corresponding epicrusis:

• pentasyllabic dolnik I: |◡´´◡◡|◡´◡|
• pentasyllabic dolnik II: ◡|◡´´◡◡|◡´
• pentasyllabic dolnik III: ◡´◡|◡´´◡◡|
• pentasyllabic dolnik IV: ◡|◡´◡|◡´´◡
• pentasyllabic dolnik V: ◡◡|◡´◡|◡´´

Russian poetry has developed the third, fourth, and fifth pentasyllabic dolniks most fully. The third and fifth varieties are compatible and interchangeable; both are widespread in Russian folk verse. Here is an example of a threefold pentasyllabic dolnik of the third type:

Или:

The same applies to the disyllabic pause:

The fourth variety occurs rather frequently in Russian poetry.

Meanwhile, "The Song of the Falcon" by Maxim Gorky is written in the fourth pentasyllabic dolnik.

The most effective and extraordinarily beautiful—though also quite rare—is the second pentasyllabic dolnik. In the following example, the pentasyllabic measure is intentionally exceeded (six syllables appear in the sixth and seventh lines):

Traditional verse theory generally ignores the pentasyllabic dolnik as an independent metrical form. I, however, regard it as a distinct and highly original meter, and I recommend occasionally turning to it as a technical means of expressing your ideas.

Hexasyllabic dolnik is the most complex of the rhythmic groups. It consists of a combination of a four-beat dolnik and a disyllabic unit; the principal metrical stress falls on the first beat of the four-beat segment, while the secondary stress falls on the first beat of the disyllabic segment: |◡´´◡◡◡|. It has six formal varieties:

• hexasyllabic dolnik I: |◡´´◡◡|◡◡´◡|
• hexasyllabic dolnik II: ◡|◡´´◡◡|◡◡´
• hexasyllabic dolnik III: |◡´◡◡´´◡◡◡|
• hexasyllabic dolnik IV: ◡|◡´|◡◡´´◡◡
• hexasyllabic dolnik V: ◡◡◡´|◡◡´´◡
• hexasyllabic dolnik VI: ◡◡|◡◡´|◡◡´´

Together, these forms constitute the class of hexasyllabic dolniks. In Russian poetry, the first, second, and fourth varieties are the most fully developed. The fifth is often combined with the first. According to traditional verse theory, the first, third, and fifth hexasyllabic dolniks belong to the trochaic family, while the second, fourth, and sixth belong to the iambic family.

Hexasyllabic dolnik I:

Hexasyllabic dolnik II, which is commonly employed in six-foot iamb:

Hexasyllabic dolnik III:

The absence in poetic practice of works written in the third hexasyllabic dolnik is apparently explained by the relatively small number of Russian words with four-syllable endings. For the same reason, poems with four-syllable rhymes or four-syllable clausulas are generally quite rare.

Hexasyllabic dolnik V (threefold):

Hexasyllabic dolnik VI:

Brachycolon is a highly unusual experimental monosyllabic meter in which every syllable is stressed. Each line of a brachycolon always consists of a single monosyllabic word. It is more a poetic exercise than a fully developed meter.

The opening of "Dog Train" by Nikolay Aseev may also be classified as brachycolonic verse, since monosyllabic and disyllabic words alternate throughout it:

It should be noted that brachycolon appeared in Russian poetry comparatively recently as an element of the poetic system.

Alexandrine verse is a six-foot iamb with a caesura after the third foot. The rhyme scheme is couplet rhyme.

This is, of course, not an independent meter, but rather a particular variety of iamb that acquired its own name because of its extraordinary popularity in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Choliamb is a meter inherited from antiquity in which the final foot of a six-foot iamb is replaced by a trochee. Here is an accentual-syllabic imitation of choliambic verse:

The following poems may also be described as choliambic:

The eleven-syllable line was one of the most widespread and stable verse forms in Russian syllabic poetry of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: a line of eleven syllables with a caesural pause after the fifth syllable. Its rhythmic structure is a variation of the double hexasyllabic dolnik I with the control sequence: |◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡||◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡|.

Tolstoy’s quatrain serves as an excellent metrical model for understanding the rhythmic structure of Russian eleven-syllable syllabic verse: it is a pausal variant of the twelve-syllable form, or more precisely, of the doubled hexasyllabic dolnik I. Here is a non-pausal twelve-syllable line:

And here is an eleven-syllable line by Symeon of Polotsk with a one-beat pause at the end of the first hemistich; the rhythm is inverted:

Or in Antiochus Kantemir:

The thirteen-syllable line is the conventional name for the most popular and stable verse form in the poetry of Russian syllabic poets of the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. The overwhelming majority of syllabic verse was written in this meter, which is an original form of Russian folk poetry and can still be encountered today in chastushki.

The metrical model of the thirteen-syllable line has two variants: one with a masculine caesura |◡´◡◡◡|◡◡◡´/\||◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡/\/\| and another with a trisyllabic caesura |◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡◡/\||◡´◡◡◡|◡´◡/\/\|. In the first hemistich there are eight beats: seven are occupied by seven syllables, while one beat is occupied by a monosyllabic caesural pause. In the second hemistich there are likewise eight beats: the first six are occupied by six syllables, while the final two beats form a disyllabic pause. The verse of the syllabic poets should be read in a chant-like recitative manner.

Before us stands a classical example of thirteen-syllable syllabic verse, containing both constant and inverted lines, as well as both masculine caesuras (in the first four lines) and “dactylic” caesuras (in the last two lines). When composing their verse, syllabic poets counted syllables at a ratio of two syllables per stress. In Symeon of Polotsk, the verse is heavier than in Kantemir; he occasionally permitted irregularities, for example a feminine caesura in the middle of the line (the second line):

Symeon of Polotsk’s poem “Slander” ends with lines that are both clear in thought and metrically structured as a four-beat dolnik with constant rhythm:

Kantemir wrote the poem “To Catherine I” in unrhymed thirteen-syllable verse. Here is its opening:

The “regularized” thirteen-syllable line developed by Vasily Trediakovsky, with its fixed rhythm, entered the arsenal of Russian poets alongside other meters. Many poets employed it:

Thus, one may say that the thirteen-syllable line, having emerged from the depths of folk poetry, served Russian syllabic poets faithfully for two centuries, before continuing—already in reformed form—to function within Russian poetry for another two hundred years.

Objectively speaking, no one writes in eleven-syllable or thirteen-syllable lines anymore, because poetry evolves, and syllabic verse has largely faded into oblivion. I would not recommend it to you either. But knowing what Old Russian poetry was like can harm no one.

This chapter is entirely optional reading. It is more of a historical excursus, because 90% of the meters and stanza forms described here are completely inapplicable to Russian-language poetry. But still... why not learn something new?

I decided to devote an entire section to ancient verse — or, more precisely, to ancient poetic meters — for several reasons. First, the Greeks and Romans invented a great number of distinctive poetic meters that are rarely used in modern poetry, yet still deserve mention. Second, had ancient versification never existed, who knows what would have become of our own, familiar poetic tradition. Still, I should note: I do not recommend using the meters described below too frequently. Today, the methods of ancient versification are little more than exercises or sources for imitation and parody.

The Greeks created several distinctive varieties of verse, alternating them within stanzas to produce complex composite meters that demanded great skill from the reciter.

Hexameter is an ancient poetic meter: a six-foot dactylic line with a feminine ending. Ancient hexameter is considered a perfect form of verse rhythm: the four-mora dactylic foot ◡◡, which may be replaced by the equally four-mora spondee (the latter is not used only in the first and sixth feet), yields 32 possible combinations. The most common caesuras in hexameter are: the caesura after the third foot, dividing the line into two equal hemistichs:

|◡◡|◡◡|◡◡||◡◡|◡◡|◡/\|,

and the double caesura, dividing the line into three parts:

|◡◡|◡◡||◡◡|◡◡||◡◡|◡/\|.

Word stress may fall on any beat of a dactylic or spondaic foot, and therefore the rhythm of the verse is uneven. Ancient four-beat hexameters should be read with clear scandation, observing the bimoraic prolongation of long syllables in both the dactyl and the spondee.

The Russian imitated hexameter has an eighteen-beat structure, each foot being three-beat (3×6=18). Russian hexameter may also be transformed into a twenty-four-beat line by lengthening the first syllable of each foot. The control pattern of the Russian imitated hexameter is as follows: |◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡||◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´◡/\. The caesura may be masculine, feminine, or dactylic, as can be seen from the following example:

Here is a masterful example of four-beat hexameter in which a number of additional modifications are added to the ancient ones:

Here we encounter, in succession, the following five rhythmic modifications of the four-beat dolnik: ◡◡, ◡´◡◡◡, ◡´/\◡◡, ◡/\, ◡◡◡´◡.

Pentameter in ancient metrics is a five-foot dactyl. Replacement of dactyls with spondees is possible only in the first two feet, before the caesura. The metrical model of the ancient four-beat pentameter is as follows: ◡◡◡◡||◡◡◡◡

The Russian three-beat pentameter is constructed according to the following scheme: |◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´/\/\||◡´◡◡|◡´◡◡|◡´/\/\. Here is an example of a Russian elegiac distich in which the second line imitates the ancient pentameter:

Tetrameter is an ancient poetic meter. The scheme of trochaic tetrameter is as follows: |◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|, that is, four trochaic dipodies were equal to eight simple trochaic feet, and the entire structure amounted to twenty-four beats. The twenty-four-beat structure is divided differently in hexameter and tetrameter:

• hexameter: |◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|
• tetrameter: |◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|◡◡|

The Russian imitation of tetrameter is eight beats shorter than the ancient original (24−16=8 beats). Here is “A Call to Courage” by the ancient Greek poet Archilochus, written in tetrameter, translated by Vikenty Veresaev:

Ionic in ancient metrics, is a six-beat foot of four syllables, consisting of two short and two long syllables. Two types are distinguished: ascending ionic ◡◡ and descending ionic ◡◡; theoretically, a third type is possible: ◡◡.

Spondee is a four-beat foot consisting of two long syllables . The spondee was used in ancient hexameter, which is composed primarily of dactylic feet. In reference to Russian accentual-syllabic verse, a spondee denotes a rhythmic movement in iambic meter where two or more stressed syllables stand side by side. For example:

In the final period of his work, Valery Bryusov often overloaded his iambic verse with spondaic movements, which contemporaries perceived as an innovation:

Dispondee is an ancient doubled (eight-beat) foot consisting of four long syllables . It occurs rarely, only in dactylic meters. An analogue of the dispondee in Russian verse, imitating dispondeic movements where long syllables are replaced by stressed syllables, may be illustrated by a line composed entirely of monosyllabic words (brachycolon). Diiamb is a double iamb, a six-beat dipody of four syllables: ◡◡. Dichoree is a double trochee, a six-beat dipody of four syllables: ◡◡. Dochmius is an eight-beat foot of five syllables ◡◡.

Tribrach is an ancient three-beat foot consisting of three short syllables ◡◡◡. In Russian metrics, a tribrach denotes an unstressed foot in three-beat meters, for example:

Pentabrach is a five-syllable foot consisting of five unstressed syllables. Scheme: ◡◡◡◡◡. It cannot function independently in Russian versification.

Molossus (trimacrus) is an ancient six-beat foot consisting of three long syllables . In the theory of accentual-syllabic verse, some scholars use the term “molossus” for a rhythmic movement in a three-beat meter where three monosyllabic stressed words stand consecutively, for example:

Adonic verse is an ancient dactylic catalectic dimeter. Such a line served as the concluding line of a stanza and occurs in the Sapphic stanza. Its metrical scheme is ◡◡|◡/\.

Alcaic verse is an ancient poetic meter, a ten-syllable line composed of two dactylic and two trochaic feet. Its scheme is: ◡◡|◡◡|◡|◡.

Alcmanian verse is an ancient eleven-syllable line, a catalectic four-foot dactyl in which the dactyl may be replaced by a spondee having the same number of beats as the dactyl.

Aristophanic verse is an ancient ten-beat line of seven syllables with the following rhythmic structure: ◡◡|◡|◡, that is, a combination of one dactylic and two trochaic feet.

Archilochian is an ancient verse form invented by Archilochus. Its scheme is as follows: the lesser Archilochian verse is a dactylic catalectic trimeter ◡◡|◡◡|/\/\, while the greater Archilochian verse combines four dactylic and three trochaic feet ◡◡|◡◡|◡◡||◡|◡|◡. Here is a free imitation of an Archilochian stanza in Russian:

The Asclepiad is an ancient verse form invented by the ancient Greek poet Asclepiades of Samos. Two forms are distinguished: the lesser Asclepiadean verse with one caesura and the greater Asclepiadean verse with two caesuras. Here is an imitation of the Asclepiadean verse:

Antibacchius is an ancient five-beat foot of three syllables: ◡; it also bears the name palimbacchius.

Amphimacer is an ancient five-beat foot, the opposite of the amphibrach, consisting of three syllables in which a short syllable stands between two long ones: ◡. Amphimacer did not enter general European metrics. However, some scholars consider it possible to apply this term to a special rhythmic movement in a three-syllable meter where the foot contains two verbal stresses—on the first and third syllables:

Antispast is an ancient six-beat foot of four syllables ◡◡, a combination of iambic and trochaic feet (an iambotrochee). The imitated antispast occurs rarely in Russian poetry:

The imitated antispast occurs in Russian chastushkas and in Ukrainian folk poetry, since their rhythm freely employs movements of rhythmic inversion, which are forbidden by the theory of accentual-syllabic verse that canonizes only fixed rhythms.

Epitrite is an ancient seven-beat foot in which three syllables are long and one is short. Four varieties of the epitrite are distinguished depending on the position of the short syllable among the long ones: first ◡, second ◡, third ◡, fourth ◡.

The Alcaic stanza is an ancient quatrain invented by Alcaeus; it consists of three types of verse:

• nine-syllable iambic line ◡|◡|◡|◡|◡/\/\
• ten-syllable line ◡◡|◡◡|◡|◡
• eleven-syllable line ◡|◡|◡◡|◡◡

In the following excerpt, Valery Bryusov imitated the rhythm of the Alcaic stanza in Russian: the first two lines correspond to the third type, the third line to the first type, and the fourth line to the second type:

The Alcmanian stanza is an ancient couplet in which the first line is a hexameter and the second is an Alcmanian verse.

Bacchius is, in ancient metrics, the name of a five-beat foot of three syllables with the following structure: ◡. It is not used in Russian metrics, although some theorists consider it possible to call an amphibrachic foot with an additional accent a bacchius: ◡◡́◡́, for example:

The Sapphic stanza is a stanza of logaoedic structure. Greater and lesser Sapphic stanzas are distinguished. In Russian literature, the form of the lesser Sapphic stanza was imitated by many classical poets. For example:

In Russian poetry these meters are practically never used, except in imitations of the Greeks. Homer’s “Iliad,” in particular, is written through the alternation of hexameter and pentameter. The only general conclusion to be drawn is this: today these forms are little more than encyclopedic antiquities, useful only selectively, as exercises.

Having overloaded you with theory and terminology, I shall now proceed to a brief outline of the simplest methods for creating beautiful and unconventional rhythms and meters. Naturally, through examples. First and foremost, however, try to write specifically in classical meters, since they are the simplest and most effective. But they certainly can—and should—be embellished in every possible way.

If, for the sake of ornamenting a poem, you decide to violate the meter, then the rhyme compensating for the metrical flaw must be flawless! In this way you will prove to the listener that the irregularity was intentional, that in reality you are capable of writing with extraordinary elegance. One may even abandon meter altogether. In that case, the demands placed upon rhyme become even stricter. For example:

Brodsky brilliantly disguises his jagged, displaced rhythm, the complete violation of syllabics and tonics, the unevenness of syllables and stresses, with magnificent rhymes, lines unique in their semantic richness, enjambments, and broken sentence structures (more on this later). Practically all of Brodsky’s later poetry is written precisely in this manner: outside the conventional laws of the genre. Such poems, however, also have a name—they are called accentual verse. Much of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poetry belongs to this category as well. The stresses and the number of syllables between them are maintained only approximately, which is compensated for by excellent rhymes. Stress verse also has its own system. For example, the passage from Brodsky quoted above is a six-beat accentual verse.

Poems of this sort are closely related in principle to the dolnik. Dolnik (which we discussed earlier) is a form of Russian and German versification in which lines, while containing the same number of stresses, arrange the unstressed syllables freely and irregularly. Heinrich Heine, for example, wrote many such poems:

Dolniks occupy an intermediate position between accentual verse and accentual-syllabic verse. I strongly advise against writing entirely in such a meter, but no one forbids the use of its individual elements. For example:

A similar “fracturedness” of rhythm—though entirely different, new, explosive—bursts forth from the poetry of Vladimir Mayakovsky, from almost every poem he wrote. Marina Tsvetaeva did not have truly “meterless” poems, but in nearly all of her later works the meters are modified, with feet and syllables deliberately omitted from them.

Theoretically, this is dactyl. But what a dactyl! In lines 1 and 3 it is a two-foot dactyl with a zero clausula, that is, with a masculine ending. In lines 2 and 4, however, something incredible happens. After the four syllables of the dactyl, a caesura suddenly breaks in; then an entirely superfluous syllable appears, and the second part becomes a new dactyl with a one-syllable clausula and a feminine ending; in essence, the result is a pentasyllabic dolnik. Such mixing within a meter is an element of unique mastery. But—and note this carefully—it all remains within dactyl; there is no transition into another meter, and therefore it reads beautifully. Do not mix different meters!

Here Tsvetaeva presents a wild mixture of iamb and anapest, something seemingly incomprehensible. Why, then, is it declaimed rhythmically and beautifully? Because the stresses in the corresponding lines are arranged in exactly the same way! There are no violations, no superfluous pyrrhics or clausulas. Thus, here is the second method of writing meterless verse: count the stresses and arrange them identically in the corresponding stanzas. In this way, you effectively invent your own meter.

Here, for example, a single line contains as many as four caesuras. Each of the five segments of the line is a small two-foot dactyl. The entire line thus becomes a kind of pentasyllabic dolnik. Or take Mikhail Shcherbakov:

This, too, is dactyl. But here each line contains one strongly pronounced caesura in the middle, as well as two others, each dividing parts of the line into two further sections. Moreover, the very last segment of each line is already amphibrach! Such things do happen. Incidentally, note the internal rhymes.

This is a three-foot paeon II, except that the first unstressed syllable has been omitted from the final foot of each line. In general, omitting or adding one or several unstressed syllables is quite an effective “trick.” The use of such a device allows you to create new meters that are convenient specifically for you.

This is anapest, except that one unstressed syllable has been omitted from the final foot.

This is an example of a “self-created” meter with the stress pattern ---'--'----'--'-. It is rather difficult to classify it as any traditional meter. Of course, one could conventionally describe it, as one reader once wrote to me, as a “six-foot amphibrach with a medial caesura and two leimmas in each line,” but that would not be entirely accurate and is hardly worth the effort.

Finally, let me describe one more method of obtaining unconventional meters. Besides dolniks and accentual verse, Russian versification also contains a form known as the pausal verse. A three-beat pausal verse is a verse in a three-beat meter whose individual feet are represented by incomplete, pausal modifications—that is, not only ◡´◡◡, but also ◡´◡/\, ◡´/\/\,◡/\/\; /\◡◡, /\◡/\, /\/\◡, and so forth—or modifications involving syllabic prolongation (long syllables) ◡, /\, ◡. The introduction of this term (not entirely precise) into Russian poetics was prompted by the appearance in early twentieth-century Russian poetry of a large number of poems in pausal form that differed so radically from the classical full-syllable three-beat meter that many readers, and even literary scholars, were unable to classify or declaim them rhythmically, considering such poems incorrect. Today, however, the correctness of the metrical structure of pausal verse is beyond doubt. Examples:

Below are examples of parallel equal-length three-beat dolniks—full-syllable and pausal forms; comparing their structures gives a clear idea of the difference in rhythms. A triple three-beat dolnik of the first type with stable terminal pauses:

a) Full-syllable form:

б) Pausal form:

A triple three-beat dolnik of the second type with identical terminal pauses.

a) Full-syllable form:

б) Pausal form:

A triple three-beat dolnik of the third type.

a) Full-syllable form:

б) Pausal form:

A quadruple three-beat dolnik of the second type with stable terminal pauses.

a) Full-syllable form:

б) Pausal form:

Particularly striking is the rhythm of three-beat dolniks with a localized internal pause recurring at a specific point within the line. For example, in a triple three-beat dolnik of the second type.

A one-beat pause in the first half of the tactometric period:

A two-beat pause in the second half of the period (in addition to the terminal pause):

The last example is especially expressive if one bears in mind that the rhythm of its pausal lines is subordinated to the control pattern of the following full-syllable lines:

Finally, here is a very rare example of a quadruple three-beat dolnik of the third type, in which the first two lines are entirely full-syllable, while the following lines contain a precisely localized one-beat pause at the end of the period:

Keep in mind that in meters invented by yourself, the stresses must be arranged very clearly and evenly, so that no impression of “meterlessness” arises. Even pausal verse appears far more attractive when its pauses are systematized and occupy the same position in every line.

A brief postscript. In reality, the mixing of meters does, of course, occur in versification. A meter formed by combining two different meters—for example, iamb and dactyl (that is, when one line is iambic and the next dactylic)—is called a logaoed. Logaoeds were used primarily in ancient poetry and are not generally accepted in Russian versification.

That concludes our discussion of meter. I shall now move on to the next section.