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Language and literary structure

correct. Nevertheless, it is an oddity that while in general the metrical line ends
on a strict sequence, the very final syllable can often be loose.
Asymmetries in sub-line units
As we have seen (p. 168), sub-units within the line can sometimes show the
loose-beginning and strict-ending characteristic seen in the line more generally.
Prince (1989) makes this point for Greek iambic trimeter, where the line is
divided into three sub-units (metra), each of four syllables; the first syllable in
each sub-unit is either heavy or light, which can be seen as a type of looseness.
English shows a very slight tendency towards looseness at a mid-line division.
On p. 39 we saw that trochaic inversion is sometimes found after a mid-line
pause, which suggests that the domain for defining a stress maximum can
sometimes be defined as part of a line. In discussions of where variation is
permitted in the iambic pentameter line, it is usually agreed that of the five
iambic feet, the second and fifth are the strictest. This might correlate with a
mid-line division after the second foot.
Just as lines can end on an unprojected (extrametrical) syllable, so subunits can also end on an unprojected syllable. This is seen in English lines
where an extrametrical syllable seems to be permitted before a mid-line pause.
However, it is worth noting that this does not seem to be true for quantitative
metres; positions filled by heavy syllables at the end of mid-line units cannot
alternatively be filled by light syllables. This is very clear for Sanskrit, where a
mid-line unit always ends on a heavy syllable, with substitution of a light syllable
possible only at the end of the line. This mismatch between extrametricality in
English and brevis in longo in quantitative metres might suggest that they are
actually to be explained by different principles (and also raises problems for
functional explanations which try to connect them).
Explaining asymmetries
A key question about line-internal looseness and strictness and related asymmetries is whether they involve just the edge of the line or whether lines change
continuously throughout. Does a line become increasingly strict towards the
end, or suddenly strict? (I will suggest the latter.)
On the whole, these asymmetries seem to involve just the edge of the line.
Initial looseness is focused on specific syllables; where more than one syllable is
involved, they do not become less loose as they get further from the beginning
of the line. The same applies to final strictness; in Greek dactylic hexameter
it is specifically the last five syllables which are strictly constrained (and all
constrained to the same extent). Furthermore, the notion that the line moves
from loose to strict does not fit with the fact that in most metres, there is either