tetrameter

1. A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.
2. A line of verse consisting of four measures of two feet each, especially one in iambic, trochaic, or anapestic meter in classical prosody.

[Late Latin tetrametrus, from Greek tetrametron, from neuter of tetrametros, having four measures : tetra-, tetra- + -metron, measure; see -meter.]

tetrameter [tet‐ram‐it‐er], a verse line of four feet (see foot). In English verse, this means a line of four stresses, usually iambic or trochaic—a very common form.

A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a verse line having four metrical feet

In poetry, a tetrameter is a line of four metrical feet. The particular foot, of course, can vary, as follows:

• Anapestic tetrameter:
  • "And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea" (Byron, "The Destruction of Sennacherib")
• Iambic tetrameter:
  • "Because I could not stop for Death" (Emily Dickinson)
• Trochaic tetrameter:
  • "Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater" (English nursery rhyme)
• Dactylic tetrameter:
  • Picture your self in a boat on a river with [...] (The Beatles, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"),

External links

• Tetrameter.com A website devoted to verse in tetrameter

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