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

It is all written in "common metre," nearly all in lines of eight and six syllables alternately.

From Sabbath in Puritan New England by Earle, Alice Morse

Yet, by these presents, witness all,     She's welcome fifty times,   And comes consigned to Hope and Love     And common metre rhymes.

From Mother Carey's Chickens by Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith

Orchest. under διποδία, διαποδισμὸς ποδίκρα.1603.Perhaps it was connected with the trochaic dipodia, which appears to have been the common metre in these choral songs, though mixed with cretics, spondees, dactylic, and logaœdic verses.1604.Aristoph.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 2 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried

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

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

This is the common metre of the Psalm versions.

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