hovering accent

American  

noun

Prosody.

1. indeterminacy as to which of two consecutive syllables in a line of verse bears the metrical stress, as in any of the first three feet of Slow, slow, / fresh fount, / keep time / with my / salt tears.

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Example Sentences

Of special interest are the examples of wrenched and hovering accent found in the verse of Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey,—more especially in Wyatt.

From Project Gutenberg