摘要：Our capacity to perceive and memorize information is limited to approximately seven (plus or minus two) elements. An element can be defined either as a single bit or as a coherent sequence of organized bits. This article hypothesizes that, even without explicit theorization, such a rule was working on the earliest writers who first handled accentual prosody, i.e. the 12th and 13th century European poets. In their poetry, one can note a general trend to move towards a “seven-unit disposition” of syllables, verses and strophes. Another evidence of my hypothesis is shown by the greater prevalence rate of this disposition in orally-spread poems than in written ones.
