A cretic (; also Cretic, amphimacer and sometimes paeon diagyios)Squire, pp. 142, 384. is a

metrical foot The foot is the basic repeating rhythmic unit that forms part of a line of verse in most Indo-European traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry. ...

containing three syllables: long, short, long (_¯ ˘ ¯). In Greek poetry, the cretic was usually a form of paeonic or

aeolic verse Aeolic verse is a classification of Ancient Greek lyric poetry referring to the distinct verse forms characteristic of the two great poets of Archaic Lesbos, Sappho and Alcaeus, who composed in their native Aeolic dialect. These verse forms wer ...

. However, any line mixing iambs and

trochee In English poetic metre and modern linguistics, a trochee () is a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. But in Latin and Ancient Greek poetic metre, a trochee is a heavy syllable followed by a light one ...

s could employ a cretic foot as a transition. In other words, a poetic line might have two iambs and two trochees, with a cretic foot in between. Words which include a cretic (e.g.

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

'' cīvitās'' and its various inflections) cannot be used in works composed in

dactylic hexameter Dactylic hexameter (also known as heroic hexameter and the meter of epic) is a form of meter or rhythmic scheme frequently used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The scheme of the hexameter is usually as follows (writing – for a long syllable, ...

or dactylic pentameter. In Latin, cretics were used for composition both in comedy and tragedy. They are fairly frequent in

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the ...

but rarer in

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

. (See Metres of Roman comedy.) For

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fa ...

poetry, the cretic has been a common form in

folk poetry Folk poetry (sometimes referred to as ''poetry in action'') is poetry that is part of a society's folklore, usually part of their oral tradition. When sung, folk poetry becomes a folk song. Description Folk poetry in general has several characteri ...

, whether in

proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial ...

s or tags. Additionally, some

English poets This is a list of English-language poets, who have written much of their poetry in English. Main country of residence as a poet (not place of birth): A = Australia, Ag = Antigua, B = Barbados, Bo = Bosnia, C = Canada, Ch = Chile, Cu = Cuba, D = Do ...

have responded to the naturally iambic nature of English and the need for a trochaic initial substitution to employ a cretic foot. That is, it is commonplace for English poetry to employ a trochee in the first position of an otherwise iambic line, and some poets have consciously worked with cretic lines and fully cretic measures.

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th cen ...

songs employed cretic dimeter fairly frequently (e.g. "Shall I die? Shall I fly?" attributed to

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

). Because the cretic, in stress-based prosody, is natural for a comparison or

antithesis Antithesis (Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together f ...

, it is well suited to

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

slogans and adages.

Cultural references

— Ohio! the editor crowed in high treble from his uplifted scarlet face. My Ohio!
— A perfect cretic! the professor said. Long, short and long. '' Ulysses'' (1922),

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

Notes

References

*Getty, Robert J., A. Thomas Cole, and T.V.F. Brogan. "Cretic" in Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, eds. ''The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1993. 248. *Squire, Irving, ''Musical Dictionary'', Adamant Media Corporation; Replica edition (October 30, 2001) {{ISBN, 978-0-543-90764-6. Advertising Metrical feet