An acephalous or headless line is a line in a poem which does not conform to its accepted metre, due to the first syllable's omission. Acephalous lines are usually deliberate variations in scansion, but this is not always obvious. Famous poems to use such a technique include A.E. Housman's To an Athlete Dying Young. Robert Wallace argues in his Meter in English that the term acephalous line seems "pejorative", as if criticising the poet's violation of scansion, but this view is not widely held among critics [[1]. Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... In literature, meter or metre (sometimes known as prosody) is a term used in the scansion (analysis into metrical patterns) of poetry, usually indicated by the kind of feet and the number of them. ... This article discusses the unit of speech. ... In literature, meter or metre (sometimes known as prosody) is a term used in the scansion (analysis into metrical patterns) of poetry, usually indicated by the kind of feet and the number of them. ... Alfred Edward Housman (March 26, 1859 _ April 30, 1936) was an English poet and classical scholar, now best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad. ... Robert Wallace (1773 - 1855) UK electoral franchise reformer and agitator for postal service reform; elected to Westminster Parliament as the member for Greenock, Scotland in 1832. ...
Sidelight: An acephalousline might be an intentional variance by the poet or a matter of the scanning interpretation.
A term applied to a line of verse which is metrically incomplete due to the omission of one or two of the ending unaccented syllables of the final foot.
Denoting a line of verse in which a logical or rhetorical pause occurs at the end of the line, usually marked with a period, comma, or semicolon.
An acephalous or headless line is a line in a poem which does not conform to its accepted metre, due to the first syllable's omission.
Acephalouslines are usually deliberate variations in scansion, but this is not always obvious.
Robert Wallace argues in his Meter in English that the term acephalousline seems "pejorative", as if criticising the poet's violation of scansion, but this view is not widely held among critics [[1].
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