Syllabic versification

Syllabic versification is a system in which rhythm rests on an equal number of syllables in the lines regardless of the placement of stresses, usually with a fixed caesura and end rhyme. Syllabics is natural for languages with fixed stress (Polish, French), and in Ukrainian poetry it prevailed during the Baroque age (17th–18th centuries): it was used by Meletii Smotrytsky, Lazar Baranovych and Hryhorii Skovoroda. The typical Ukrainian syllabic line is a thirteen-syllable line with a caesura after the seventh syllable. With the establishment of syllabo-tonics in the nineteenth century, syllabics receded to the periphery, yet it left a notable mark on the bookish poetry and spiritual songs of the Ukrainian Baroque tradition.