Adonic


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Related to Adonic: Adonis, Aldonic acid, Adonis Complex

Adonic

(əˈdəʊnɪk)
adj
1. (Poetry) (in classical prosody) of or relating to a verse line consisting of a dactyl (¯˘˘) followed by a spondee (¯¯) or by a trochee (¯˘), thought to have been first used in laments for Adonis
2. of or relating to Adonis
n
(Poetry) an Adonic line or verse
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Adonic - a verse line with a dactyl followed by a spondee or trochee; supposedly used in laments by Adonis
Adonic line
verse line, verse - a line of metrical text
Adj.1.Adonic - or relating to or like Adonis
2.Adonic - having a rhythm consisting of a dactyl followed by a spondee or a trochee; "the verse of the laments is Adonic"
rhythmic, rhythmical - recurring with measured regularity; "the rhythmic chiming of church bells"- John Galsworthy; "rhythmical prose"
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References in periodicals archive ?
The instability is compacted in the stark ambiguity of the final line (the adonic of the final stanza) of Odi Barbare, "Wisdom is fable" and its cost is measured in the penultimate poem of Oraclau/Oracles: "Fable or not it is unbearable.
"Faith" and "fable" in the poetry of Geoffrey Hill
Sometimes he writes agile tercets that link arms and glide down the page, here and there alexandrines, occasionally faux Sapphics where the last line ("watched over by on you," "hear the young maidens") echoes or rather alludes to the final Adonic of that wonderful stanza which has held the ear of poets ever since Sappho first sounded it.
The Odes of Horace

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