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Elegiac Couplet

The six foot dactylic line used in epic poetry by Greek and Latin poets was known as an hexameter. When followed by a line of dactylic pentameter, the couplet was called an elegiac couplet.

Also see
Meter
Poetry Intro

 

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  9. Elegiac couplet is a term from Greek and Latin prosody to refer to a meter based on dactyls

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