Foot

A foot is the basis of meter: that is, the regular unit of rhythm which, when repeated, makes up a verse. Although the basis of meter in the classical languages was “quantitative” — i.e., “long” and “short” syllables were based on the actual amount of time it took to speak the syllables — and some English poets made experiments in this direction, virtually all English feet are based on a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Still, the terms are usually imported from Greek and Latin versification, and you may hear “long” and “short” where “stressed” and “unstressed” are meant.

Each common foot comprises two or three syllables: either one or two stressed syllables, and zero, one, or two unstressed syllables. The common feet in English:

• Duple Meters:
  • Unstressed, stressed: iamb
  • Stressed, unstressed: trochee
  • Stressed, stressed: spondee
• Triple Meters:
  • Stressed, unstressed, unstressed: dactyl
  • Unstressed, unstressed, stressed: anapest
  • Unstressed, stressed, unstressed: amphibrach

Meter is usually described by giving both the kind of feet (above) and the number in each verse. The basic meters are:

• One foot: monometer (accent on the first and third syllables: MAH-no-MEE-ter)
• Two feet: dimeter (accent on the first syllable, which sounds like “dim")
• Three feet: trimeter (accent on the first syllable, which sounds like “trim")
• Four feet: tetrameter (accent on second syllable)
• Five feet: pentameter (accent on the second syllable)
• Six feet: hexameter (accent on the second syllable)

Although in most kinds of English verse one type of foot predominates in each line, substitutions are possible.

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Note: This guide is still in the early stages of development.
Three question marks mean I have to write more on the subject. Bear with me.