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The elegiac couplet is a poetic form used by Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes usually of smaller scale than the epic. Roman poets, particularly Ovid, adopted the same form in Latin many years later. As with the English heroic, each couplet usually makes sense on its own, while forming part of a larger work. Each couplet consist of a hexameter verse followed by a pentameter verse. The following is a graphic representation of its scansion. Note that - is a long syllable, u a short syllable, and U is either one long syllable or two short syllables: :::- U | - U | - U | - U | - u u | - - :::- U | - U | - || - u u | - u u | - The form was felt by the ancients to contrast the rising action of the first verse with a falling quality in the second. The sentiment is summarized in a line from Ovid's ''Amores'' I.1.27 ''Sex mihi surgat opus numeris, in quinque residat'' - "Let my work rise in six steps, fall back in five." The effect is illustrated by Coleridge as: :In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column, :In the pentameter aye falling in melody back. translating Schiller, :Im Hexameter steigt des Springquells silberne Säule, :Im Pentameter drauf fällt sie melodisch herab. ==Greek origins== The elegiac couplet is presumed to be the oldest Greek form of epodic poetry (a form where a later verse is sung in response or comment to a previous one). Scholars, who even in the past did not know who created it,〔Horace, ''Epistulae'', II, 3, 77-78.〕 theorize the form was originally used in Ionian dirges, with the name "elegy" derived from the Greek ''ε, λεγε ε, λεγε'' - "Woe, cry woe, cry!" Hence, the form was used initially for funeral songs, typically accompanied by an aulos, a double-reed instrument. Archilochus expanded use of the form to treat other themes, such as war, travel, or homespun philosophy. Between Archilochus and other imitators, the verse form became a common poetic vehicle for conveying any strong emotion. At the end of the 7th century BCE, Mimnermus of Colophon struck on the innovation of using the verse for erotic poetry. He composed several elegies celebrating his love for the flute girl Nanno, and though fragmentary today his poetry was clearly influential in the later Roman development of the form. Propertius, to cite one example, notes ''Plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero'' - "The verse of Mimnermus is stronger in love than Homer". The form continued to be popular throughout the Greek period and treated a number of different themes. Tyrtaeus composed elegies on a war theme, apparently for a Spartan audience. Theognis of Megara vented himself in couplets as an embittered aristocrat in a time of social change. Popular leaders were writers of elegy—Solon the lawgiver of Athens composed on political and ethical subjects—and even Plato and Aristotle dabbled with the meter. By the Hellenistic period, the Alexandrian school made elegy its favorite and most highly developed form. They preferred the briefer style associated with elegy in contrast to the lengthier epic forms, and made it the singular medium for short epigrams. The founder of this school was Philitas of Cos. He was eclipsed only by the school's most admired exponent, Callimachus; their learned character and intricate art would have a heavy influence on the Romans. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「elegiac couplet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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