Trochaic inversion

by George Dance

Trochaic inversion is substituting a trochaic foot (or trochee) for an iamb (or iambic foot) in a line of iambic verse.

Trochaic inversion is normally allowed only on the first foot following a break (either a line break or a caesura.) The result of a trochaic inversion is to make the first four syllables after a break equivalent to the classical foot called the Choriamb; so trochaic inversion is sometimes also referred to as choriambic substitution.

Usage
Trochaic inversion is normal practice in writing iambic verse; "trochaic inversion, at the beginning of a line or after a cesural break, is easily the most common rhythmic variation in English verse."


 * Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
 * Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
 * (John Keats, "To Autumn")