trimeter
Line of triplets
Trimeter is a line of verse consisting of three metrical feet.
In English poetry, this typically means six syllables in an alternating stress pattern, though the specific rhythm depends on the type of foot used.
Trimeter often appears paired with tetrameter in hymns and ballads, creating a characteristic sing-song quality.
The second and fourth lines of a common meter hymn are in iambic trimeter.
Verse rhythm type
- anapesticMeter with galloping rhythm
- dactylicThree-beat poetic meter
- trochaicStressed-unstressed metrical pattern
- spondaicTwo stressed syllables
foot · feet · scansion · metrical · syllable · stress · unstressed · stressed
Two successive verse lines
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- quatrainFour-line poetic unit
- sestetSix-line verse unit
- octaveEight-note interval
sonnet · ode · elegy · lyric · ballad · hymn · epigram · limerick
Of Athenian origin
Two-foot poetic line
- tetrameterFour-foot poetic line
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
- hexameterSix-foot poetic line
- heptameterSeven-foot poetic line
iambic
Verse rhythm type
- anapesticMeter with galloping rhythm
- dactylicThree-beat poetic meter
- trochaicStressed-unstressed metrical pattern
spondaic · foot · feet · scansion · metrical · syllable · stress · unstressed · stressed · quantitative
couplet
Two successive verse lines
octave · sonnet · ode · elegy · lyric · ballad · hymn · epigram · limerick · villanelle
Greek
Of Athenian origin
dimeter
Two-foot poetic line
- tetrameterFour-foot poetic line
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
- hexameterSix-foot poetic line
heptameter · verse · line
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- threestrio, triad, triple, triplet, trinity
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, beat
- metersthermometer, speedometer, odometer, barometer, pedometer
- poeticsrhyme, versification, poetic form, stanza, poetic devices
- classical prosodydactyl, spondee, trochee, iamb, anapest
trimeterhexameter
Six-foot poetic line
prose · pentameter · heptameter · free verse · tetrameter