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Décasyllabe

French
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A French verse of ten syllables, one of the oldest meters in French poetry. Predominant before the alexandrin, especially in chansons de geste and Renaissance poetry.

Detailed Definition
The décasyllabe is the historically foundational meter of learned French versification. Its traditional caesura after the fourth syllable gives it a lively and dynamic rhythm well-suited to epic and lyric narration. The Chanson de Roland and the poems of Marot draw on it abundantly. The Pléiade sometimes preferred it to the alexandrin for certain genres. It remains a living meter that modern poets revisit for its concision and its particular rhythmic energy, distinct from the more expansive flow of the twelve-syllable line.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Chanson de Roland is composed almost entirely in décasyllabes organized in assonanced laisses, its 4+6 caesura structure giving the epic line a forward-leaning momentum perfectly suited to the narration of heroic action and martial conflict; Villon's famous poem "Ballade des pendus" uses décasyllabes to achieve a measured gravity that balances the horror of its subject with the formal dignity of the meter, creating the characteristic Villon tension between low content and high form; Marot's verse epistles frequently employ the décasyllabe for its versatility, capable of accommodating both the rhetorical arguments of court petition and the lighter touch of occasional wit; A student scanning a décasyllabe should first identify the syllable count of ten, then locate the caesura, typically after the fourth syllable in the medieval form or after the sixth in the Renaissance variant, noticing how this caesura creates the line's characteristic rhythmic identity; Du Bellay's "Antiquités de Rome" sequence uses the décasyllabe in its sonnets to meditate on Roman ruins with a weight that seems appropriate to the geological time scale of imperial decay and rebirth; The décasyllabe's gradual displacement by the alexandrin through the 16th century represents one of the most significant metrical transitions in French literary history, as the twelve-syllable line's greater length and flexibility made it more suitable for the expanding ambitions of Renaissance and classical poetics.
Additional Notes
Décasyllabe was one of the great working metres of medieval and early French poetry before the alexandrin became dominant. Its rhythmic flexibility made it suitable for epic, narrative, and lyric purposes. Students should compare its historical role with that of the English pentameter, though the systems differ structurally. Caesural placement can vary depending on period and usage. Studying décasyllabe helps trace the evolution of French versification from medieval forms toward the stricter balance of classical metrics.
Also Known As
Decasyllabic verse
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