Editing Hendecasyllable (section)

==Classical==

In classical poetry, "hendecasyllable" or "hendecasyllabic" may refer to any of three distinct 11-syllable [[Aeolic verse|Aeolic]] meters,<ref name="HOR129ff">{{Cite book |author1-last=Halporn |author1-first=James W. |author2-last=Ostwald |author2-first=Martin |author3-last=Rosenmeyer |author3-first=Thomas G. |author2-link=Martin Ostwald |author3-link=Thomas G. Rosenmeyer |title=The Meters of Greek and Latin Poetry |year=1980 |edition=Revised |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. |location=Indianapolis |pages=129–132 |isbn=0-87220-243-7}}</ref> used first in Ancient Greece and later, with little modification, by Roman poets.<ref name="HOR29ff">{{Cite book |author1-last=Halporn |author1-first=James W. |author2-last=Ostwald |author2-first=Martin |author3-last=Rosenmeyer |author3-first=Thomas G. |author2-link=Martin Ostwald |author3-link=Thomas G. Rosenmeyer |title=The Meters of Greek and Latin Poetry |year=1980 |edition=Revised |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. |location=Indianapolis |pages=29–34, 97–102 |isbn=0-87220-243-7}}</ref>

Aeolic meters are characterized by an Aeolic base <code>× ×</code> followed by a [[choriamb]] <code>– u u –</code>; where <code>–</code> = a long syllable, <code>u</code> = a short syllable, and <code>×</code> = an [[anceps]], that is, a syllable either long or short.<ref name="HOR29ff" /> The three Aeolic hendecasyllables (with base and choriamb in bold) are:

===Phalaecian hendecasyllable=== 
({{langx|la|hendecasyllabus phalaecius}}):

 '''× × – u u –''' u – u – –<ref name="HOR29ff" />
<!--The verses should not be regrouped into "feet", as this is false to the principles of Aeolic verse.  Also, the last syllable should not be marked "×" because brevis in longo is a distinct phenomenon from syllaba anceps-->

This line is named after [[Phalaecus (poet)|Phalaecus]], a minor Hellenistic poet who used it in epigrams; though he did not invent it, since it had earlier been used by [[Sappho]] and [[Anacreon]].<ref>William Smith (1873). ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology'': [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D18%3Aentry%3Dphalaecus-bio-3 Phalaecus].</ref>  

The Phalaecian hendecasyllable was a favorite of [[Catullus]]; it was also very frequently used by [[Martial]].<ref>Raven, D. S. (1965). ''Latin Metre'', pp. 177, 180–181.</ref> An example from Catullus is the first poem in his collection, given below. The translation attempts to convey some sense of the rhythm, substituting English stress for Latin length.
{{Verse translation|lang=la|
Cui dōnō lepidum novum libellum
āridā modo pūmic(e) expolītum?
Cornēlī, tibi: namque tū solēbās
meās ess(e) aliquid putāre nūgās<ref name="Q1">{{Cite book |editor-last=Quinn |editor-first=Kenneth |year=1973 |title=Catullus: The Poems |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-333-01787-0 |page=1}}</ref>
|attr1=Catullus: "[[Catullus 1]]", lines 1-4|
To whom dedicate this, my charming new book,
Freshly burnished with pumice stone to fine sheen?
To Cornelius! you who always used to
Think my gobbledygook was, well, was something.}}

The aeolic base (i.e., the first two syllables of the line) with <code>– –</code> is by far the most common in Catullus, and in later poets such as [[Statius]] and [[Martial]] was the only one used, but occasionally Catullus uses <code>u –</code> or <code>– u</code> as in lines 2 and 4 above. There is usually a [[caesura]] in the line after the 5th or 6th syllable.<ref>D. S. Raven (1965), ''Latin Metre'' (Faber), p. 139.</ref>

In the first part of his poetry collection, Catullus uses the Phalaecian hendecasyllable as given above in 41 poems. In addition, in two of his poems (55 and 58b) Catullus uses a variation of the metre, in which the 4th and 5th syllables can sometimes be contracted into a single long syllable. In poem 55 there are twelve decasyllables and ten normal lines:<ref>Fordyce (1961). ''Catullus'', p. 225.</ref>

{{Verse translation|lang=la|
Ōrāmus, sī forte non molestum (e)st,
dēmōnstrēs ubi sint tuae tenebrae...
|attr1=Catullus: "[[Catullus 55]]", lines 1-2|
We beg, if perhaps it is not a nuisance,
that you should show us where your lair is...}}

Poem 58b is thought by some scholars to be a fragment which was formerly part of this one; although others think it an independent poem.<ref>Fordyce (1961). ''Catullus'', p. 226.</ref>

===Alcaic hendecasyllable===
{{see|Odes (Horace)}}
({{langx|la|hendecasyllabus alcaicus}}):
 × – u – '''× – u u –''' u –<ref name="HOR29ff" />
Here the Aeolic base is truncated to a single anceps. This meter typically appears as the first two lines of an [[Alcaic stanza]].<ref name="HOR29ff" /> (For an English example, see [[Hendecasyllable#English|§English]], below.)

===Sapphic hendecasyllable===
[[File:British Library papyrus 739.jpg|thumb|A [[papyrus]] manuscript preserving [[Sappho]]'s "Fragment 5", a poem using one of the [[Aeolic verse|Aeolic]] hendecasyllabics in its [[Sapphic stanza]]s]]
({{langx|la|hendecasyllabus sapphicus}}):
 – u – '''× – u u –''' u – –<ref name="HOR29ff" />
Again, the Aeolic base is truncated. This meter typically appears as the first three lines of a [[Sapphic stanza]], though it was also sometimes used in [[stichic]] verse, for example by [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] and [[Boethius]].<ref name="HOR29ff" /> [[Sappho]] wrote many of the stanzas subsequently named after her, for example (with formal equivalent, substituting English stress for Greek length):
{{Verse translation|lang=grc|attr1=Sappho: Fragment 31, lines 1-4|italicsoff=yes|
φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν
ἔμμεν' ὤνηρ, ὄττις ἐνάντιός τοι
ἰσδάνει καὶ πλάσιον ἆδυ φονεί-
σας ὐπακούει<ref>{{cite web |title=Phainetai Moi |url=https://www.stoa.org/unicode/texts/sappho31.html |website=www.stoa.org |date=n.d. |access-date=2 July 2021}}</ref>|
He, it seems to me, is completely godlike:
Ah, that man who's sitting across from you, there,
Leaning in and listening to your sweet voice,
Charmed by your laughter.}}