noun
- The addition of one or more extra syllables at the end of a metrical line, beyond the normal metrical pattern.
Usage: technical term in prosody and poetry; also called hypermetrical or catalectic excess
Examples
- The poet employed hypercatalexis to create an extra unstressed syllable at the line's end.
- In some metrical analyses, hypercatalexis is distinguished from a simple feminine ending.
- The final line of the stanza exhibits hypercatalexis, extending beyond the expected iambic pentameter.
- Scholars debate whether hypercatalexis serves a rhythmic or rhetorical purpose in this passage.