Hypermetric

Hypermetric or hypermetrical syllables, in poetry, are syllables that are not normally included in the count of syllables for scansion.

One example would be hypercatalectic syllbles added onto iambic verse to achieve a feminine rhyme. For example; even though the following six lines all contain eleven syllables, the lines would all normally be scanned as iambic pentameter:


 * A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted ,


 * Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion ;


 * A woman’s gentle heart, but not acquainted


 * With shifting change, as is false women’s fashion


 * But since she prick’d thee out for women’s pleasure,


 * Mine be thy love and thy love’s use their treasure.


 * (Shakespeare, Sonnet XX)