[Alex Pepple]

Originally Posted by Glenn Wright

Hi, Julie—

I notice that the original French is in tetrameter and your English translation is in hexameter. Would it be possible to preserve the original meter? (I know, that’s asking a lot.)

Glenn

Hey Glenn, just jumping in to clarify that the original isn’t really tetrameter—it’s written in alexandrins, the classical French twelve-syllable lines (with the e muet counted where metrically valid). This is the standard meter of formal French verse, and the line is typically divided by a strong caesura after the sixth syllable.

For such a formal rendition in English as Julie's, I think the choice of hexameter is a natural counterpart—preserving both the length and the feel of the original’s phrasing and cadence.

—Alex