Abstract

The foot (Gk. poús) in poetic meter typically refers to the unit made up of two metrical positions, which carries a name like iamb, trochee, dactyl, spondee, or anapest. Meters are usually referred to in terms of what is taken to be the canonical form of the verse foot, plus a specification of line length in terms of metron (dactylic hexameter, iambic trimeter, spondaic pentameter, etc.). Feet in meter correspond roughly to pr…