Foot (poetry)

From Wikinfo

A 'Foot', (plural feet), as used in poetic literature, is a unit of measure in verse. It is generally understood to signify two syllables (or 'beats'). For example, the line: 'The new day is dawning,' - consists of 3 feet (or 6 beats).

In poetry, a foot is a certain number of syllables forming part of a line of verse, measured for effect in English as long beats (accented) and short beats (unaccented).

In many other languages criteria such as duration of the syllable (long or short) is the effect measured.

See also

• Meter in poetry.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Foot (poetry) http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_(poetry) October 16, 2003