Sievers' theory of Anglo-Saxon meter
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Eduard Sievers developed a theory of the meter of Anglo-Saxon Alliterative verse. This most likely would have been the theory of Anglo-Saxon prosody that Ezra Pound would have been familiar with.[1]
A line of Anglo-Saxon verse is made up to two half-lines. Each of these half-lines contains two main stresses (or 'lifts'). Sievers categorized three basic types of half-line that were used. Here a stressed syllable is represented by the symbol '/' and an unstressed syllable by the symbol 'x'.
| Type | Description | Example 1 | Example 2 |
| Type A | Falling | / x / x | / x x x / x |
| Type B | Rising | x / x / | x x x / x x / |
| Type C | Rising / Falling | x / / x | x x x / / x x |
He also noted that three possible types of half-line were not used:
- / x x /
- / / x x
- x x / /
However the first two of these can be used if one of the 'dips' is changed into a half-stress (or 'half lift' ... notated here 'x́'):
| Type D | Two stresses at start | / / x́ x | / / x x́ |
| Type E | Falling / Rising | / x x́ / | / x́ x / |
References
- ^ Brooke-Rose, Christine, A ZBC of Ezra Pound, Faber and Faber, 1971. ISBN 0-571-09135-0 (page 88)
