Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c14.87

c14.87

The variations which characterize the archaic period are both numerous and distinctive: they are also generally similar to those which characterize the same period in dimeter verse. Hence we can readily detect the archaic rhythm, even in a small group or a single hymn. The characteristics of the strophic, normal, and cretic periods, on the other hand, can only be observed in large bodies of verse: in small groups and single hymns the favoured types of these periods may happen to predominate merely as the result of chance.