Foot (prosody)
Encyclopedia
The foot is the basic metrical
unit that generates a line of verse
in most Western traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse
and the quantitative meter of classical
ancient Greek and Latin poetry
. The unit is composed of syllable
s, the number of which is limited, with a few variations, by the sound pattern the foot represents. The most common feet in English are the iamb, trochee
, dactyl
, and anapest.
The English word "foot" is a translation of the Latin term pes, plural pedes; the equivalent term in Greek, sometimes used in English as well, is metron, plural metra, which means "measure." The foot might be compared to a measure
in musical notation
.
The foot is a purely metrical unit; there is no inherent relation to a word or phrase as a unit of meaning
or syntax
, though the interplay among these is an aspect of the individual poet's skill and artistry.
The following lists describe the feet in terms of vowel length (as in classical languages). Translated into syllable stresses (as in English poetry), 'long' becomes 'stressed' ('accented'), and 'short' becomes 'unstressed' ('unaccented'). For example, an iamb, which is short-long in classical meter, becomes unstressed-stressed, as in the English word "betray."
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
unit that generates a line of verse
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
in most Western traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse
Accentual-syllabic verse
Accentual-syllabic verse is an extension of accentual verse which fixes both the number of stresses and syllables within a line or stanza. Accentual-syllabic verse is highly regular and therefore easily scannable...
and the quantitative meter of classical
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
ancient Greek and Latin poetry
Latin poetry
The history of Latin poetry can be understood as the adaptation of Greek models. The verse comedies of Plautus are the earliest Latin literature that has survived, composed around 205-184 BC, yet the start of Latin literature is conventionally dated to the first performance of a play in verse by a...
. The unit is composed of syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
s, the number of which is limited, with a few variations, by the sound pattern the foot represents. The most common feet in English are the iamb, trochee
Trochee
A trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
, dactyl
Dactyl (poetry)
A dactyl is a foot in meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight...
, and anapest.
The English word "foot" is a translation of the Latin term pes, plural pedes; the equivalent term in Greek, sometimes used in English as well, is metron, plural metra, which means "measure." The foot might be compared to a measure
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
in musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
.
The foot is a purely metrical unit; there is no inherent relation to a word or phrase as a unit of meaning
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
or syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, though the interplay among these is an aspect of the individual poet's skill and artistry.
The poetic feet in classical meter
Below are listed the names given to the poetic feet by classical metrics. The feet are classified first by the number of syllables in the foot (disyllables have two, trisyllables three, and tetrasyllables four) and secondarily by the pattern of vowel lengths (in classical languages) or syllable stresses (in English poetry) which they comprise.The following lists describe the feet in terms of vowel length (as in classical languages). Translated into syllable stresses (as in English poetry), 'long' becomes 'stressed' ('accented'), and 'short' becomes 'unstressed' ('unaccented'). For example, an iamb, which is short-long in classical meter, becomes unstressed-stressed, as in the English word "betray."
Disyllables
¯ = long syllable, ˘ = short syllable (macron and breve notation)| ˘ ˘ | pyrrhus, dibrach Pyrrhic A pyrrhic is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach.Tennyson used pyrrhics and spondees quite frequently, for example, in In Memoriam: "When the blood creeps and the nerves prick." "When the" and "and the" in the second... |
| ˘ ¯ | iamb |
| ¯ ˘ | trochee Trochee A trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one... , choree (or choreus) |
| ¯ ¯ | spondee Spondee In poetry, a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables, as determined by syllable weight in classical meters, or two stressed syllables, as determined by stress in modern meters... |
Trisyllables
| ˘ ˘ ˘ | tribrach Tribrach (poetry) A tribrach is a metrical foot used in formal poetry and Greek and Latin verse. In quantitative meter , it consists of three short syllables; in accentual-syllabic verse , the tribrach consists of three unstressed syllables. According to some sources, another name for this meter is choree, from the... |
| ¯ ˘ ˘ | dactyl Dactyl (poetry) A dactyl is a foot in meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight... |
| ˘ ¯ ˘ | amphibrach Amphibrach An amphibrach is a metrical foot used in Latin and Greek prosody. It consists of a long syllable between two short syllables. The word comes from the Greek αμφίβραχυς, amphíbrakhys, "short on both sides".... |
| ˘ ˘ ¯ | anapest, antidactylus |
| ˘ ¯ ¯ | bacchius Bacchius A bacchius is a metrical foot used in formal poetry.In accentual-syllabic verse we could describe a bacchius as a foot that goes like this:Example:When day breaksthe fish biteat small flies.... |
| ¯ ¯ ˘ | antibacchius Antibacchius An antibacchius is a metrical foot used in formal poetry.In accentual-syllabic verse an antibacchius consists of two accented syllables followed by one unaccented syllable.Its opposite is a bacchius.Example:Blind luck is... |
| ¯ ˘ | cretic Cretic A cretic is a metrical foot containing three syllables: long, short, long. In Greek poetry, the cretic was usually a form of paeonic or aeolic verse. However, any line mixing iambs and trochees could employ a cretic foot as a transition... , amphimacer |
| ¯ ¯ ¯ | molossus Molossus (poetry) A molossus is a metrical foot used in Greek and Latin poetry. It consists of three long syllables. Examples of Latin words constituting molossi are audiri, cantabant, virtutem.... |
Tetrasyllables
| ˘ ˘ ˘ ˘ | tetrabrach, proceleusmatic |
| | | |
| ¯ ˘ ˘ ˘ | primus paeon Paeon (prosody) In prosody a paeon is a metrical foot used in both poetry, or prose. It consists of four syllables, with one of the syllables being long and the other three short. Paeons were often used in the traditional Greek hymn to Apollo called paeans. Its use in English poetry is rare... |
| ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ | secundus paeon |
| ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ | tertius paeon |
| ˘ ˘ ˘ ¯ | quartus paeon |
| | | |
| ¯ ¯ ˘ ˘ | major ionic Ionic meter The ionic is a four-syllable metrical unit of light-light-heavy-heavy that occurs in ancient Greek and Latin poetry. Like the choriamb, in classical quantitative verse the ionic never appears in passages meant to be spoken rather than sung... , triple trochee |
| ˘ ˘ ¯ ¯ | minor ionic, double iamb |
| ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ | ditrochee |
| ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ | diiamb |
| | | |
| ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ | choriamb Choriamb In Greek and Latin poetry, a choriamb is a metron consisting of four syllables in the pattern long-short-short-long , that is, a trochee alternating with an iamb. Choriambs are one of the two basic metra that do not occur in spoken verse, as distinguished from true lyric or sung verse... |
| ˘ ¯ ¯ ˘ | antispast |
| | | |
| ˘ ¯ ¯ ¯ | first epitrite |
| ¯ ˘ ¯ | second epitrite |
| ¯ ¯ ˘ ¯ | third epitrite |
| ¯ ¯ ¯ ˘ | fourth epitrite |
| | | |
| ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ | dispondee |
External links
- Comprehensive list of feet and colas up to 12 syllables long
- Prosody Tutorial by H.T. Kirby-SmithH. T. Kirby-SmithH.T. or Tom Kirby-Smith is an American author and poet.- Life :H.T. Kirby-Smith grew up on the Cumberland Plateau, in Sewanee, Tennessee. He received his B.A. from Sewanee an M.A. from Harvard and held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford , where he studied with Yvor Winters. He was also a...