JAMBIC, in ancient poetry, a sort of verse, so called from its consisting either wholly, or in great part, of iambus's. See IAMBUS.
Ruddiman makes two kinds of iambic, viz. dimeter and trimeter; the former containing four feet, and the latter six. And as to the variety of their feet, they consist wholly of iambus's, as in the two following verses of Horace:
1 2 3 4 5 6
Dim. Inar|fit u|stus|bus|
Trim. Suis|et|ipsa|Ro|ma|v|tribus|ruit.
Or, a dactylus, spondeus, anapaestus, and sometimes tribrachys, obtain in the odd places; and the tribrachys also in the even places, excepting the last.—Examples of all which may be seen in Horace; as,
Dimeter.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Canid|is|tra|stev|idop|e|
Vid|e|p|e|prop|er|ante|dom|u|
Trimeter.
Quo|quod|se|ce|si|ru|tu|au|teur|de|x|ter|is.
Prin|que|ca|lum|fide|in|ser|u|mar|e.
Al|t|ibus|at|que|com|bus|homi|cid| He|st|orem.
Pa|cul|um|que|le|p|e| aut|ad|venam|la|que|gru|m.