in Ancient Poetry, a denomination given to several kinds of verse, from Alceus, their inventor. The first kind consists of five feet, viz. a spondee, or iambic; an iambic; a long syllable; a dactyl; another dactyl: such is the following verse of Horace:

Omnes | vol|dem cogni|nur, | omnium Verfa|tur urba |[arius] | ocyus | Sors exi|tura.

The second kind consists of two dactyls and two trochees: as,

Exili|um impos|tura | cymbe.

Besides these two, which are called dactylic Alcaics, there is another styled simply Alcic; consisting of an epitrite; a choriambus; another choriambus; and a bacchius: the following is of this species,

Cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere, cur olivum?

Alcaic Ode, a kind of manly ode composed of several strophes, each consisting of four verses; the two first of which are always Alcaics of the first kind; the third verse is a diameter hypercataleptic, or consisting of four feet and a long syllable; and the fourth verse is an Alcaic of the second kind. The following strophe is