hemistich

[ hem-i-stik ]

/ ˈhɛm ɪˌstɪk /

the exact or approximate half of a stich, or poetic verse or line, especially as divided by a caesura or the like.

an incomplete line, or a line of less than the usual length.

Origin of hemistich

1565–75; < Late Latin hēmistichium < Greek hēmistíchion a half-verse. See hemi-, stich¹

he·mis·ti·chal

[huh-mis-ti-kuh l, hem-i-stik-uh l] /həˈmɪs tɪ kəl, ˈhɛm ɪˌstɪk əl/, adjective

The sub-type A3 is type A with alliteration on the second arsis only and is limited almost entirely to the first hemistich.

A History of English Versification |Jakob Schipper
I have composed the first hemistich of a verse, but cannot finish it, although it has occupied my mind for some days.'

A Boswell of Baghdad |E. V. Lucas
The last line has the regular number of syllables, but double inversion of accent in the first hemistich.

A History of English Versification |Jakob Schipper
The sectional rhyme, so called because it consists of two rhyming words within one section or hemistich.

A History of English Versification |Jakob Schipper

Type B, according to Sievers, occurs 1014 times in Beowulf, of which 293 are in the first hemistich and 721 in the second.

A History of English Versification |Jakob Schipper

hemistich

/ (ˈhɛmɪˌstɪk) /

prosody a half line of verse