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

See Examples For:

common metre

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

The syllables are as in the common metre, but it has thrice the rhymes.

From Thomas Davis, Selections from his Prose and Poetry by Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)

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

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

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