¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Octosyllables
1. octosyllable [n] - See also: octosyllable
Lexicographical Neighbors of Octosyllables
Literary usage of Octosyllables
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. A History of English Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day by George Saintsbury (1908)
"... congeniality—The rhymes— Improper use of the name—-Practice of the metre before
and after 1700—Swift: his octosyllables—The anapaest—Retrospect of ..."
2. An Introduction to Old Provençal Versification by Frank M. Chambers (1985)
"Isometric compositions in octosyllables with masculine rimes. ... while in two
the octosyllables are combined with lines of four syllables, ..."
3. The Earlier Renaissance by George Saintsbury (1901)
"His rhyme-royal of octosyllables is by no means unpromising—it is odd that it
has not had more followers ; and the quintet aabab, ..."
4. The Fourteenth Century by Frederick John Snell (1899)
"The Seven Sages (to seek no further) is, though much earlier, in octosyllables.
In the House of Fame Chaucer had reverted to the short couplet as more ..."
5. Chambers's Cyclopaedia of English Literature: A History Critical and by Robert Chambers, David Patrick (1901)
"This witty and whimsical satire on the Puritans is written in rhymed octosyllables
that hurry the reader along willy-nilly. Butler's ingenuity in rhyming ..."
6. The Complete Works of John Gower by John Gower (1899)
"Moreover, the- English metres which they resemble are those of the North rather
than of the South. If we compare the octosyllables of the Manuel des ..."
7. A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century by Henry Augustin Beers (1916)
"229, " Solitude, an Ode," by Dr. Grainger: octosyllables. V. 283, "Prologue to
Comus," performed at Bath, 1756. VI. 148, " Vacation," by , Esq.: " L'Allegro ..."
Other Resources:
