In Latin Poetry
One stanza consists of four lines; the first two lines are divided into two parts by a caesura after the fifth syllable. The metrical pattern of an Alcaic stanza would look like this:
_ _ u _ _ : _ u u _ u _ _ _ u _ _ : _ u u _ u _ _ _ u _ _ _ u _ _ _ u u _ u u _ u _ _(An "_" denotes a long syllable, "u" a short one, and ":" is the caesura.)
Horace used the Alcaic stanza in his Odes, as can be seen from this example :
An English translation, which still fits the metre, is :
_ _ u _ _ : _ u u _ u _ Prior to this, 'twas | irreligious to waste _ _ u _ _ : _ u u _ u _ Old Caecuban wine | whilst, for the Capitol _ _u _ _ _ u _ _ Mad ruination plots the Queen, and _ u u _ u u _ u _ _ Even a funeral for the Empire.A famous example of English Alcaics is Tennyson's "Milton:"
O mighty-mouth'd inventor of harmonies, O skill'd to sing of Time or Eternity, God-gifted organ-voice of England, Milton, a name to resound for ages!The Alcaic stanza was adapted to use in English and French during the Renaissance. It was historically an important form in Hungarian poetry .
Read more about this topic: Alcaic Stanza
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“You send your child to the schoolmaster, but tis the schoolboys who educate him. You send him to the Latin class, but much of his tuition comes, on his way to school, from the shop- windows.”
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