Sonnet, [118] ff., (1) Italian, a 14-line stanza composed of two quatrains riming abba and two tercets riming cde cde (cde dee, etc.), [120] ff.; (2) English, 14-line stanza of three quatrains riming abab cdcd efef, and a closing couplet gg, [127] ff. There are also mixed forms and many variations.
Spenserian Stanza, a 9-line stanza riming ababbcbc5c6; the final alexandrine is the characteristic feature, [85] f., [112] ff. Several variations were used in the seventeenth century consisting of shorter lines with a closing alexandrine, [117].
Spondee, a classical prosody a foot of two long syllables; in English prosody a foot of two 'long' or accented or stressed words or syllables, [51].
Stanza, a group of lines arranged according to a special pattern, usually marked by rimes, [53], [88] ff.; see also Verse (3).
Stress, the comparative emphasis which distinguishes a sound from others not so strongly or plainly emphasized, [34] f., [37] f., [56] f., [65] f. Then by Unstress or no stress is meant absence or comparative weakness of emphasis. Stress is used in this book for rhythmic and metrical emphasis; see Accent.
Strophe, same as Stanza, [53]; in the Pindaric ode, the first (fourth, etc.) stanza, [131].
Substitution (1) replacing one rhythmic unit by its temporal equivalent, as an iamb by an anapest or by a trochee, etc., [20]; called also Inversion (q. v.) of the foot; (2) the use of pitch or duration (pause) for a stress or unstress, [20], [181] ff.
Syllable, the smallest and simplest unit of speech-sound, [32] f.; sometimes used as a metrical unit, [49].
Syncopation, the union, or perception of the union, of two or more rhythmic patterns, [18] ff.
Tail-rime Stanza, one usually of six lines riming aa4b3cc4b3, but with many variations (e. g. the Burns stanza, aaa4b2a4b2), the general type being a combination of long lines in groups with single short lines, [109].