The Flippant Mace is a solemn poetic form concerning war, originating in The Faded Petticoat. The rules of the form are applied by poets to produce individual poems which can be recited. The poem is a single tercet. Use of epenthesis is characteristic of the form. to beseechThe second line of the tercet shares the underlying meaning of the first line. The first line is intended . It has ten syllables. The second line is intended to reflect on previous ideas. It has eleven syllables. The third line is intended to offer a different perspective. It has five syllables.