Masculine and feminine endings
A masculine ending and feminine ending or weak ending are terms used in prosody, the study of verse form. "Masculine ending" refers to a line ending in a stressed syllable. "Feminine ending" is its opposite, describing a line ending in a stressless syllable. This definition is applicable in most cases; see below, however, for a more refined characterization. Example Below are the first two stanzas of "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In each stanza, the first and third lines have a feminine ending and the second and fourth lines a masculine one. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!— For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. The final stressless syllables, creating feminine endings, are -bers, again -bers, -nest, and again -nest. The final stressed syllables, creating masculine endings, are dream, seem, goal, and soul. Rhyme Masculine rhymes When masculine endings are rhymed (such as "dream" and "seem" in the previous example), the result is called a masculine rhyme (or single