common metre

British  

noun

1. a stanza form, used esp for hymns, consisting of four lines, two of eight syllables alternating with two of six

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Example Sentences

These thirty-seven tunes, all of which but one were in common metre, were bound often with "The Bay Psalm-Book."

From Sabbath in Puritan New England by Earle, Alice Morse

Another very common metre in the Dramas consists of stanzas of eight lines of seven syllables, rhyming alternately. 

From A Handbook of the Cornish Language chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature by Jenner, Henry

The "common metre" of English hymnology is thus seen to be a rough mould into which almost any kind of religious emotion may be poured.

From A Study of Poetry by Perry, Bliss

This is the common metre of the Psalm versions.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

This is the common metre for narrative, didactic, and descriptive poetry.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)