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common metre
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Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry
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4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul
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Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:
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Abbreviated:
C.M.
Also called:
hymnal stanza
Related Topics:
metre
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common metre

literature
Also known as: C.M., hymnal stanza
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Color illustration of Countee Cullen in profile, set against a purple background with white floral and maplike designs.
Countee Cullen's Poem “Confession”: Reading and Analysis“If for a day joy masters me / Think not my wounds are healed.”
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common metre, a metre used in English ballads that is equivalent to ballad metre, though ballad metre is often less regular and more conversational than common metre. Whereas ballad metre usually has a variable number of unaccented syllables, common metre consists of regular iambic lines with an equal number of stressed and unstressed syllables. The song “Amazing Grace” by John Newton is an example of common metre, as can be seen in the following verse:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.