A List of Metrical Feet All in One Place

I grew tired of having to visit different websites to find various metrical feet. So I’m making this page so they are all in one spot.

I have listed some feet that have either have no stressed syllable or unstressed syllable. Except for pyrrhic and spondee, I think a foot should have one of both, but the history of poetics includes them, so I will too.

I’ll use conventional notation:

/=stressed syllable

u=unstressed syllable

Duple Feet

Notation	Name and Notes
u /	Iamb. The most common foot in English.
/ u	Trochee.
u u	Pyrrhic. Can be used as an iamb substitute. Often called a double-iamb because it is usually followed by two stresses. However, some say “double-iamb” should be reserved for back-to-back iambs. See “ionic minor” and “diamb” below.
/ /	Spondee. A powerful foot.

Triple Feet

Notation	Name and Notes
u u /	Anapest. Can be used as an iamb substitute.
/ u u	Dactyl.
u / u	Amphibrach.
/ u /	Amphimacer or cretic. Sometimes referred to as “paeon diagyios.” Can be used as a substitute in anapestic verse.
u / /	Bacchius. Can be used as a substitute in anapestic verse.
/ / u	Antibacchius
u u u	Tribrach. Has no stressed syllable, but is still considered a foot.
/ / /	Molossos. Has no unstressed syllable, but is still considered a foot.

Quadruple Feet

Notation	Name and Notes
/ u u u	First paeon.
u / u u	Second paeon.
u u / u	Third paeon.
u u u /	Fourth paeon.
u / / /	First epitrite.
/ u / /	Second epitrite.
/ / u /	Third epitrite.
/ / / u	Fourth epitrite.
u u / /	Ionic minor or ionic a minore or double iamb. Can be used as replacement for two iambic feet. See “pryyhic” above.
/ / u u	Ionic major or ionic a majore or double trochee.
u / u /	Diamb. Though I think it is better labelled as “double iamb,” as it is back-to-back iambs.
u / / u	Antispast. An iamb followed by a trochee.
/ u u /	Choriamb. A trochee followed by an iamb.
u u u u	Proceleus maticus or proceleusmaticus or tetrabrach. Has no stressed syllable, but it is still considered a foot.
/ / / /	Dispondee. Has no unstressed syllable, but is still considered a foot.

//