Question: What is Meter?
Answer: In Greek and Latin poetry, meter (metre) is the number and arrangement of long and short syllables in a verse or line. Meter can also refer to just the number of feet in a line of poetry. Meter is often named with two terms, the one referring to the number of feet with the word "-meter" attached, and the other to the dominant long and short syllable pattern in each foot. Thus, the meter of epic poetry is dactylic hexameter.
Greek and Latin Poetry Meter FAQ Index:
- What Is an Anceps?
- What's the Difference Between Caesura and Diaeresis?
- What's an Example of a Caesura?
- What Is Dactylic Hexameter?
- What Is an Example of an Elegiac Couplet?
- What Is an Ictus?
- What Is Meter?
- Which Meters Does Latin Poetry Use?
- What Is a Metron?
- What is Prosody?
- How Do You Scan a Line of Latin Poetry?
