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

C.M., chirurgi� magister, master in surgery; common metre.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1 A to Amide by Various

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

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

Wordsworth, by the way, when he visited Vallombrosa with Crabb Robinson in 1837, wrote an inferior poem there, in a rather common metre, in honour of Milton's association with it.

From A Wanderer in Florence by Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall)

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)