Duncan, that may explain why I only got a B- in that course.*

(Yep, Sappho used short syllables sometimes in that position. But line-ending syllables in many classical meters are generally reckoned "long by position" even if they are short, so I don't know if that would be considered a true anceps.)

* Kidding--I got a B- in that course for other reasons, and I think the professor was being very generous.

I have a system called the "Q & C System", where Q (quatrain) and C (couplet) are used as the main units and + is used for almost anything additional. When using this approach, a lack of rhyme is simply indicated by a different type or no specification of any rhyme.

For example,



Shakespearean Sonnet:

3Q1C1 (three type one quatrains and a type one couplet)

If for some reason the final couplet didn't rhyme, you indicate it as a different type - a couplet that doesn't rhyme:

3Q1C2 (three type one quatrains and a type two couplet)


Limerick:

Q2+A

(A type two quatrain with an additional line whose rhyme matches the first rhyme.)

If for some reason the final line didn't rhyme, to represent that you simply omit a specification of what the rhyme is:

Q2+

No specification indicates no rhyme.

.