por A monometer It is a style of poem typical of the classical Greek and Latin times that also appears in Anglo-Saxon poetry, although not the most common format. It is a word that is often confused with «manometer» or «monomer», without having anything to do with it.
A monometer is a type of poem or literary composition versed in a single meter, foot, measure, or syllable. It should be remembered that a «meter» is the number of syllables per verse that a poem has, while a «verse» is made up of sentences or short phrases that are written on each line. Thus, when a work is written in verse, it is called a poem (otherwise it would be poetic prose).
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Characteristics and types
Graphically, a poem of these characteristics (also called «monometric») gains in height and almost nothing in the width of the page.
In relation to this, it is associated with a dactyl, which is another Greco-Latin metric that takes the figure of the finger, since it has a long syllable and is followed by two short syllables (figured in the phalanges of the index finger). In this case, there is also the dactyl monometer, whose base scheme is “–uu:–uu”.
The anapestic monometer (the anapesto in Greco-Latin metric is a foot made up of three syllables) corresponds exactly to the first metron of the diameter (in classical poetry, a verse made up of two meters or feet).
Normally, in Seneca a series of diameters is closed, or even rarer, in alternation with the diameters. In this case, the scheme is “uu – uu –”.
Evolution
In Roman times, some authors such as Mesomede and Sinesio composed entire poems in anapestic monometers. For its part, in the metric of English poems, there are four fundamental or basic rhythms.
One of them is the «iambic meter», organized by an unstressed syllable and another stressed. These iambs can be grouped into monometers, whose scheme in this case is “–u–u”.
If a poem has verses with more than eight syllables, it is considered «higher art» (it generally deals with important or more serious themes). Meanwhile, if it had a smaller quantity, it was classified as “minor art”. The «monometer» would enter this category.
At present, poetry in monometers is practically nil and it is difficult to find books that dedicate their pages to works of this type. The examples that can be found on the web referring to the classic poems of this type are not abundant either.
frequent confusions
The word «monometer» should not be confused with a «manometer», which also comes from the Greek and is made up of «manós», «rare» or «scarce», and «meter».
This is an instrument that measures the pressure in fluids and gases within closed circuits (such as the pressure that a car tire can have, for example).
A manometer, what it mainly does is compare the external atmospheric pressure with that of the interior of the evaluated object. That is why it is indicated that these instruments measure relative pressure, the result of which is the «gauge pressure».
Another confusing word is “monomer”, which is used in chemistry and refers to the simple molecule that forms the basis for polymers, which can be of natural or synthetic origin. These are constituted in linear or branched chains of two or more units.
References
Ramon Joaquin Dominguez. (1846). “Universal French-Spanish Dictionary”. Retrieved from: books.google.it
Lucio Cecarelli. (1999). “Classical Latin prosody and meter: with an introduction to Greek meter.. Retrieved from: books.google.it
Meter. (2018). Fandom Virtual Library. Recovered from: virtual-library.fandom.com
Poems: stanza, verse and rhyme. Educational portal. Retrieved from: portaleducativo.net