Anacrusis

prosody. an unstressed syllable or syllable group that begins a line of verse but is not counted as part of the first foot.
music. the note or notes preceding a downbeat; upbeat.
historical examples

the rhythmical effect of this licence has some resemblance to that of the suppression of anacrusis.
a history of english versification jakob schipper

lines with anacrusis in the first section and without it in the second.
a history of english versification jakob schipper

such verses, however, may also be looked upon as instances of the omission of anacrusis combined with epic caesura.
a history of english versification jakob schipper

of course in such an investigation the use of anacrusis in the types a and a1 should not be neglected.
a history of english versification jakob schipper

anacrusis gives further variety to the types used in the translation.
beowulf release date: july 19, 2005 [ebook #16328]

rhythmical licences, such as suppression of the anacrusis, seldom occur in such short lines.
a history of english versification jakob schipper

the third line is remarkable for its anacrusis, which occasionally occurs also in other english hexameters.
a history of english versification jakob schipper

there are many instances of anacruses where the last bar has not been shortened by the length of the anacrusis bar.
wit and mirth: or pills to purge melancholy, volume vi various

noun (pl) -ses (-siːz)
(prosody) one or more unstressed syllables at the beginning of a line of verse
(music)

an unstressed note or group of notes immediately preceding the strong first beat of the first bar
another word for upbeat

n.

“unstressed syllable at the beginning of a verse,” 1833, latinized from greek anakrousis “a pushing back,” of a ship, “backing water,” from anakrouein “to push back, stop short, check,” from ana- “back” (see ana-) + krouein “to strike,” from pie -kreue- (2) “to push, strike” (cf. russian krusit, lithuanian krusu “to smash, shatter,” old church slavonic kruchu “piece, bit of food,” old english hreowian “feel pain or sorrow,” old norse hryggja “make sad”).