extrametrical
extrametrical, in prosody, exceeding the usual or prescribed number of syllables in a given metre. Also, in reference to a syllable or syllables not counted in metrical analysis. In the following final couplet from a sonnet by William Shakespeare, the ending syllables are extrametrical:
Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;
Suns of the world may stain when heaven’s sun staineth.
Citation Information
Article Title:
extrametrical
Website Name:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published:
01 September 1999
Access Date:
February 20, 2025