Hendecasyllabic Defined

This metrical line has eleven syllables (“hendeca” is Greek for “eleven”).

It is the most common meter in Catullus’ poems. In the example poem below, the "═" is used to indicate the elisions.

— U

U —

— — — U U — U — U — X

Poem 5, line 1

Vīvāmus, mea Lesbia, atque amēmus,

                                 ═        ═

— — —    U U  —   U  — U          — X

Catullus Poems in Hendecasyllabic

1    2    3    7    10    12    13    14    35    36    40    43    45    46    49    50 

English Poems in Hendecasyllabic

Back