amphibrach

An amphibrach (/ˈæmfɪbræk/) 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 ἀμφίβραχυς, amphíbrakhys, "short on both sides".

The phrases, “How dear to,” “my heart are,” “the scenes of,” and “my childhood” are all amphibrachs. This is an interesting example as it clearly conveys the rhythm. Readers should move steadily through the lines of verse, hearing the story as it plays out.

[am‐fib‐rak] A metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable between two unstressed syllables, as in the word 'confession' (or, in quantitative verse, one long syllable between two shorts). It is the opposite of the amphimacer.

The four most common types of metrical feet are iambs, trochees, anapests, and dactyls.

: a metrical foot consisting of a long syllable between two short syllables in quantitative verse or of a stressed syllable between two unstressed syllables in accentual verse.

An amphimacer is a metrical foot that consists of three syllables. It's the opposite of an amphibrach. E.g. In the first stanza of 'Spring' by William Blake, phrases like “Sound the Flute!” and “Now it's mute” are clear examples of the stressed, unstressed, stressed pattern of the amphimacer.

A metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable. Examples of trochaic words include “garden” and “highway.” William Blake opens “The Tyger” with a predominantly trochaic line: “Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright.” Edgar Allan Poe's “The Raven” is mainly trochaic.

In this line from Andrew Marvell's "The Garden" there are two pyrrhic feet that appear here in bold face: "To a | green thought | in a | green shade." Another example is this line from Lord Byron's Don Juan: "My way | is to | begin | with the | beginning."

am·​phim·​a·​cer. amˈfiməsə(r), ˈamfəˌmās- plural -s. : a trisyllabic foot consisting of a short syllable between two long syllables in quantitative verse or of an unstressed syllable between two stressed syllables in accentual verse.

Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables).

One of the most famous examples of iambic pentameter is the opening passage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

An amphimacer is a metrical foot that consists of three syllables. It's the opposite of an amphibrach. E.g. In the first stanza of 'Spring' by William Blake, phrases like “Sound the Flute!” and “Now it's mute” are clear examples of the stressed, unstressed, stressed pattern of the amphimacer.