Different meters of speech or rhythm

They are metrical feet in poetry. It is a way to denote measures and syllables. Edit: Here's a rather complete listing of all those Pesky Meters and feet:-) " Normative Meter, Two-Syllable Feet and Three-Syllable Feet A "foot" refers to the basic unit in which meter is measured; it is composed of a specific number of syllables arranged in a set pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. TWO-SYLLABLE FEET: There are four two-syllable feet in English (these tend to be the most common): A. The Iamb Forthe iamb, the pattern is Unstressed (U) Stressed (S), as in the word "today"-- written as / to DAY / to indicate the stress. The iamb is the most common foot in English poetry; around 60% of metrical English poetry is iambic: had WE / but WORLD / e NOUGH / and TIME B. The Trochee For the trochee, the pattern is / S U /, as in the word "running"--/ RUN ning /; trochaic verse is fairly common, but much less so than iambic: SPRING'S a / RRIVED in / ALL its / FLUR ry C. The Spondee For the spondee, the pattern is / S S /--as in / STOP THAT! / D. The Pyrrhic For the pyrrhic, the pattern is / U U /--as in the "to the" in the following phrase: Today we went to the mountains--/ to DAY / we WENT / to the / MOUN tains / IMPORTANT NOTE: Spondees and pyrrhics are used exclusively as substitutes for iambics and trochees within individual lines; it is impossible to have a meter that is purely composed of spondees or pyrrhics. Furthermore, most authorities on meter now agree that the pyrrhic foot cannot exist by itself but only as part of the / pyrrhic/ spondee/ combination known as the "double iamb." NORMATIVE METER: The "meter" of a poem is determined by the type and number of feet which appear in a single line. A line which consists of 4 iambs is called "iambic tetrameter"; a line which consists of 3 trochees is called "trochaic trimeter." The most common meter in English is "iambic pentameter," i. e., 5 iambs. This basic pattern is called the "normative meter" of a poem. However, any poem of more than 3 or 4 lines which adheres absolutely to its normative meter quickly becomes boring, so the poet usually finds ways of varying the meter from line to line (there are other, more important reasons for varying meter, as well). Trochaic substitutions in iambic meter are common: / SOFT is / the STRAIN / when ZEPH / yr GENT / ly BLOWS Here, the first iamb is replaced by a trochee. /what SOFT / er VOICE / is HUSHED / O ver / the DEAD Here, the 4th iamb is replaced by a trochee. / as WHAT / he LOVES / may NEV / er LIKE / TOO MUCH Here, the final iamb is replaced by a spondee. There can also be multiple substitutions within a single line: / WHEN to / the SESS / ions of / SWEET SI / lent THOUGHT Here, the pattern is /trochee/ iamb/ pyrrhic/ spondee/ iamb /HOLD like / RICH GAR / ners the / FULL RIP / ened GRAIN /trochee/ spondee/ pyrrhic/ spondee/ iamb The last two examples are rather extreme, the substituted feet outnumbering those of the normative meter, or, at least, seeming to. But both these examples contain the pattern "/pyrrhic/ spondee/"--this pattern is frequently called the "double iamb," and is considered a legitimate variation of (and substitute for) the normal iamb. Shakespeare, Keats, and Frost, among others, make frequent use of the "double iamb" as a substitution. THREE SYLLABLE FEET: A. The Anapest Although two-syllable feet are by far the most common in English poetry, there are also three-syllable feet which sometimes occur. The most frequently encountered is the anapest: anapest: unstressed unstressed STRESSED In the sentence "I went to the lake," the prepositional phrase "to the lake" is an anapest: / to the LAKE / "I am monarch of all I survey" /i am MON / arch of ALL / i sur VEY This meter is anapestic trimeter. "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold" /the as SYR / ian* came DOWN / like a WOLF / on the FOLD [*pronounced as "yun"] /and his CO / horts were GLEAM / ing in PUR / ple and GOLD / This meter is anapestic tetrameter. Anapestic meters are rather difficult to sustain in English; for that reason, one will occasionally find an iambic foot substituted for an anapest, often as the first foot in a line; such substitution, if not used excessively, is not considered to disrupt the normative anapestic meter of the line: "Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen." /like the LEAVES / of the FOR / est when SUM / mer is GREEN / /that HOST / with their BAN / ners at SUN / set were SEEN / Here, the first foot of the second line is a substituted iamb. "Why, there hasn't been time for the bushes to grow. That's always the way with the blueberries, though. There may not have been the ghost of a sign." /why there HAS / n't been TIME / for the BUSH / es to GROW / /that's AL / ways the WAY / with the BLUE / ber ries THOUGH / /there MAY / not have BEEN / the GHOST / of a SIGN / Here, the first foot of the second line is an iambic substitution, as are both the first and third feet of the third line. Usually, the number of substitutions is limited to one per line, but even two substitutions here in the third don't seriously disrupt the normative anapestic meter. Although iambs can be substituted for anapests fairly easily, the reverse process is more questionable--i. e., substituting anapests for iambs in iambic meters. The extra syllable of an anapest, even though unstressed, can often disrupt the iambic normative meter. Usually, when an anapest is to be substituted for an iamb, the varied meter should be a reflection of the action taking place in the line: "The whiskey spread through all his veins, and mounted quickly to his brains. He danced a jig on the table top." /the WHIS / key SPREAD / through ALL / his VEINS / /and MOUNT / ed QUICK / ly TO / his BRAINS / /he DANCED / a JIG / on the TA / ble TOP / Here, the first two lines are strictly iambic; in the third line, the third foot "on the TA" is anapestic--the extra syllable adds a kind of skipping or dancing motion that reflects the action of the character at that point in the poem. Accordingly, the anapest here would be considered an effective substitution. A particularly fine example of an anapestic substitution in iambic meter where the introduced metrical variation reinforces the meaning can be found in the line: "Up to the Brownian motion of the air" / UP to/ the BROWN/ i an MO/ tion OF/ the AIR/ / trochee/ iamb/ anapest/ iamb/ iamb/ Here, the anapest introduces an unexpected random variation in the meter precisely within the words "Brownian motion" which themselves refer to the random motion of molecules, a variation which directly emphasizes the meaning. This is superb craftsmanship. However, when this kind of correspondence between meter and meaning doesn't occur, anapestic substitutions in iambic verse often simply seem intrusive and clumsy, and probably are best avoided. B. The Dactyl The only other three-syllable foot encountered with any frequency in English poetry is the dactyl which has the pattern: dactyl--/ STRESSED unstressed unstressed / The word "dithering" is a dactyl: / DITH er ing / Dactylic verse is relatively rare in English. Probably the single best-known poem using dactylic meter is Longfellow's Evangeline, written in dactylic hexameters: "This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks" /THIS is the / FOR est pri / MEV al the / MUR mur ing / PINES and the / HEM locks / Here, the pattern is /dactyl/dactyl/dactyl/dactyl/dactyl/trochee/ The sixth foot is a trochee, which is the foot commonly substituted for the dactyl, just as the iamb is commonly substituted for the anapest. "All the incongruous things of past incompatible ages, Seem to be treasured up here to make fools of present and future." /ALL the in / CON gru ous / THINGS of / PAST in com / PAT i ble / A ges/ /SEEM to be / TREAS ured up / /HERE to make / FOOLS of / PRE sent and / FU ture/ Here, the patterns are: /dactyl/dactyl/trochee/dactyl/dactyl/trochee /dactyl/dactyl/dactyl/trochee/dactyl/trochee Each line has two trochaic substitutions. The fact is that maintaining a strict dactylic meter is much more difficult than maintaining almost any other meter; this situation often results in a greater number of substitutions than in other meters, probably one significant reason why dactylic verse is comparatively rare in English. Furthermore, dactylic meter does not lend itself easily to rhymed verse. Rhyme words are normally important words in the lines in which they occur; accordingly, they are always stressed. Since the dactyl ends with two unstressed syllables a one- or two-syllable rhyming word won't work in dactylic meter, and there are relatively few triply-rhyming words (i. e., all three syllables would have to rhyme)in English which fit the "STRESSED unstressed unstressed" pattern necessary for a rhyming word to receive the required stress. (NOTE: There is a way around this particular difficulty we'll examine in a later lesson.) C. The Amphibrach The third three-syllable foot in English is the amphibrach: amphibrach: / unstressed STRESSED unstressed / The word "undying" is an amphibrach: / un DY ing / "The sportsmen keep hawks, and their quarry they gain." /the SPORTS men / keep HAWKS and / their QUAR ry / they GAIN / /amphibrach/amphibrach/amphibrach/iamb The problem with the amphibrach is that it can often be scanned as if it actually consisted of anapests with a first-foot iambic substitution: /the SPORTS / men keep HAWKS / and their QUAR / ry they GAIN / /iamb/anapest/anapest/anapest/ If the last foot in the original scanning of the line had been an amphibrach rather than an iamb, the line would simply have appeared to have had an extra (hypermetrical) unstressed syllable at the end, a perfectly acceptable situation. As a result, very little use is made of the amphibrach itself, since perfectly adequate descriptions of this meter can be made in terms of anapests and iambs."

An iamb or iambus is a metrical foot used in various types of poetry. Originally the term referred to one of the feet of the quantitative meter of classical Greek prosody: a short syllable followed by a long syllable (as in i-amb). A trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. [edit] Examples Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha is written almost entirely in trochees, barring the occasional substitution (iamb, spondee, pyrrhic, etc.). Should you ask me, whence these stories? Whence these legends and traditions, With the odours of the forest, With the dew and damp of meadows, In Greek mythology, the Dactyls (Greek for "fingers") were the archaic race of small phallic male beings associated with the Great Mother, whether as Cybele or Rhea. Their numbers vary, but often they were ten spirit-men so like the three Curetes,[1] the Cabiri or the Korybantes that they were often interchangeable.[2] The Dactyls were both ancient smiths and healing magicians. In some myths, they are in Hephaestus' employ, and they taught metalworking, mathematics, and the alphabet to humans. An anapaest or anapest, also called antidactylus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one (as in a-na-paest); in accentual stress meters it consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It may be seen as a reversed dactyl. Here is an example from William Cowper's "Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk" (1782), composed in anapaestic trimeter: I am out of humanity's reach I must finish my journey alone I found all of this at Wikipedia

Words that poetry experts use to show others they are better then you. Mostly they are used by those who never wrote a poem in their life.