cola) used in the structuring of the Classical rhetorical tradition[2] and poetry, designating a part of the verse in the latter.
[3] During the text analysis of poetry, colometry involves examining the structure and rhythmic composition of lines to figure out their metrical patterns and stylistic functions and organize the verses accordingly.
The tradition goes back at least to the Alexandrian school: the layouts of its papyri mostly align with the medieval manuscripts.
[4] In the strictest sense, colometry is the process of splitting poetical text into periods and cola.
[5] Each period is built out of cola that come in many varieties labeled with corresponding meters, like "glyconic", "anacreontic", "anapestic".