I found this on sapphics from different sources.
After the odes of the Greek lyric poet, Sappho, a verse of eleven syllables
in five feet, of which the first, fourth and fifth are trochees, the second
a spondee, and the third a dactyl. The Sapphic strophe consists of three
Sapphic verses followed by an Adonic.
Form:
unrhyming but using the Sapphic stanza (where / represents a long syllable, in English stressed, and _ a short syllable, in English unstressed).
/ _ / _ / _ _ / _ / _
/ _ / _ / _ _ / _ / _
/ _ / _ / _ _ / _ / _
/ _ _ / _
trochee: TROCHEE (TROH-kee), TROCHAIC (troh-KAY-ick)
A metrical foot with a long or accented syllable followed by a short or unaccented syllable, as in ON-ly or TO-tal, or the opening line of Poe's "The Raven:"
ONCE up- | ON a | MID-night | DREAR-y, | WHILE I | PON-dered, | WEAK and | WEAR-y,
spondee: SPONDEE (SPAHN-dee), SPONDAIC (spahn-DAY-ick)
A metrical foot with two long or equally accented syllables together, as in
bread box or shoeshine. Two unaccented syllables (a pyrrhic foot) often
precede or follow a spondee.
(Verses entirely composed of spondees are rare; their principal use is as
variations in iambic lines in which the successive accented syllables of a
spondee are effective for the suggestion of gravity or emphasis, as in
Christina Georgina Rossetti's "Song," Be the | green grass | above | me )
dactyl: A metrical foot of three syllables, the first of which is long or
accented and the next two short or unaccented, as in merrily or lover boy,
or from Byron's "The Bride of Abydos,"
Know ye the | land where the | cypress and | myrtle
(Except for their use in humorous light verse, dactylic lines are now
infrequent in English poetry.)
Adonic: A verse consisting of a dactyl followed by a spondee or trochee. It
is believed to be so named because of its use in songs during the Adonia, an
ancient festival in honor of Adonis.
( The festival of Adonia was celebrated by women, who spent two days
alternating between lamentation and feasting.)
An example by Isaac Watts:
THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT
An Ode Attempted in English Sapphic
When the fierce north wind with his airy forces
Rears up the Baltic to a foaming fury,
And the red lightning with a storm of hail comes
Rushing amain down,
How the poor sailors stand amazed and tremble,
While the hoarse thunder, like a bloody trumpet,
Roars a loud onset to the gaping waters,
Quick to devour them!
Such shall the noise be and the wild disorder,
(If things eternal may be like these earthly)
Such the dire terror, when the great Archangel
Shakes the creation,
Tears the strong pillars of the vault of heaven,
Breaks up old marble, the repose of princes;
See the graves open, and the bones arising,
Flames all around 'em!
Hark, the shrill outcries of the guilty wretches!
Lively bright horror and amazing anguish
Stare through their eyelids, while the living worm lies
Gnawing within them.
Thoughts like old vultures prey upon their heart-strings,
And the smart twinges, when the eye beholds the
Lofty Judge frowning, and a flood of vengeance
Rolling afore him.
Hopeless immortals! how they scream and shiver,
While devils push them to the pit wide-yawning
Hideous and gloomy, to receive them headlong
Down to the center.
Stop here, my fancy: (all away ye horrid
Doleful ideas); come, arise to Jesus;
How He sits God-like! and the saints around him
Throned, yet adoring!
Oh may I sit there when he comes triumphant
Dooming the nations! then ascend to glory
While our hosannas all along the passage
Shout the Redeemer.
There is an article here, also:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/formsofv...otes/page5.html--