trochees
DUM-da metrical units
Trochees are metrical feet in poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one: DA-dum.
The word *garden* is a natural trochee, as are *falling* and *double*.
Trochaic meter, built from these units, has a driving, emphatic quality: Double, double, toil and trouble.
Compare to iambs, which reverse the pattern.
Unstressed-stressed metrical units
- spondeesTwo-stress metrical feet
- dactylsStressed-unstressed-unstressed units
- metrical footUnit of poetic rhythm
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
stressed syllable · unstressed syllable · prosody · meter · pentameter · tetrameter · trimeter · dimeter
Native American statesman-figure
Traditional poems for toddlers
- chantRepetitive rhythmic phrase
- incantationSpoken magical formula
- common meterAlternating eight-six syllable lines
- song lyricsWords of a tune
iambs
Unstressed-stressed metrical units
- spondeesTwo-stress metrical feet
- dactylsStressed-unstressed-unstressed units
- metrical footUnit of poetic rhythm
scansion · stressed syllable · unstressed syllable · prosody · meter · pentameter · tetrameter · trimeter · dimeter · hexameter
Hiawatha
Native American statesman-figure
nursery rhymes
Traditional poems for toddlers
- chantRepetitive rhythmic phrase
- incantationSpoken magical formula
- common meterAlternating eight-six syllable lines
song lyrics · folk poetry · children's verse · lullaby · marching cadence