The 'sprung rhythm' was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins. It occurs when a stressed syllable is followed by a variable number of unstressed syllables, the number of which can range from zero to usually three. This irregular rhythm differs from the cadence: in the 'sprung rhythm' only the unstressed syllables can be varied freely, in the cadence also the stressed syllables. The name is explained by the sequence of syllables: Since stressed syllables in this pattern can often follow one another directly and do not occur in constant alternation with unstressed syllables, the rhythm is described as "sprung" or as springy.

Hopkins himself, by the way, said of himself to be only the theorist of this rhythmic form, not the inventor. For he saw in it the rhythm of the common English language and the basis of such early English poems as Piers Plowman and nursery rhymes as "Díng, dóng, béll:/ Pússy's ín the wéll": The stressed syllables in these lines are followed by a varying number of unstressed syllables. In addition, a foot can consist of one to four syllables in the 'sprung rhythm', while in the normal English metric it consists of two or three syllables. The first four lines of Hopkins' poem Spring and Fall are an example: "Márgarét, áre you gríeving/Over Goldengrove unleaving?/Leáves like the things of man, you/With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?": The stressed syllables in these lines are followed by a varying number of unstressed syllables.

In addition, a foot can consist of one to four syllables in the jump rhythm, while in the normal English metric it consists of two or three syllables. The first four lines of Hopkins' poem 'Spring and Fall' are an example: "Márgarét, áre you gríeving/Over Goldengrove unleaving?/Leáves like the things of man, you/With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?". Here, too, the stressed syllable is followed by a sum of unstressed syllables ranging from zero to usually three. In the "jump rhythm", accents of words and verses sometimes even contradict each other. This, combined with the idiosyncratic choice of words and the abundant use of alliteration and assonance, causes the often stated 'oddity' of the lyrical tone of Hopkins' poems. This was influential in the poetry of the Austrian Bodo Hell, who adapted this form in the poem iss was rar ist (eat what's rare) from the volume "Tracht" (folk costume).

Literature:

Schneider, Elisabeth W.: "Sprung Rhythm: A Chapter in the Evolution of Nineteenth-Century Verse", in: PMLA. 80 (3) (1965): S. 237–253.