Strophic definition
Strophic verse – ‘strophic’ simply means ‘stanzaic’ – is fundamentally different from dàn in that it is based on a regularly-recurring rhythmic pattern, i.e. it is accentual rather than syllabic verse. Accentual verse represents, indeed, a natural development in Scottish Gaelic, reflecting the stress-timed character of Gaelic speech; and a wide variety of accentual verse forms were doubtless practised for centuries among ordinary Gaels in Scotland – as in Ireland – prior to their earliest appearances in manuscript and printed sources.2