trochee

/'trouki:/

Thân thiện

A poet carefully marks the trochee in each line of the poem.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A metrical foot in poetry consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable: A "trochee" is a basic rhythmic unit, or foot, used in poetic meter. Its pattern is a strong beat (stressed) followed by a weak beat (unstressed).

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The word "garden" is a trochee. (The syllables are stressed as GAR-den.)
  • The line "Double, double, toil and trouble" from Shakespeare contains trochees.
  • Trochees are common in children's rhymes and chants.

Advanced Usage

• Trochaic meter: This refers to a line of poetry written primarily in trochees.
  • Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha" is famously written in trochaic tetrameter.
• Catalectic trochee: A trochaic line that is missing its final unstressed syllable.
  • The final line of a stanza is sometimes a catalectic trochee for dramatic effect.

Variants and Related Words

• Trochaic (adj): Relating to or composed of trochees.
  • The poem has a strong trochaic rhythm.
• Iamb (n): The opposite metrical foot, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (e.g., "beGIN").

Synonyms

• Metrical foot: A general term for a unit of poetic rhythm, which includes trochees, iambs, dactyls, etc.

Related Concepts (Not Phrasal Verbs or Idioms)

• Meter: The overall rhythmic structure of a poem.
• Scansion: The act of analyzing the meter of a poem, which involves identifying feet like the trochee.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a metrical unit with stressed-unstressed syllables