Trochaic inversion, also called trochaic substitution, is the substitution of a trochaic foot (or trochee) for an iambic foot (or iamb) in a line of iambic verse.
| Disyllables | |
|---|---|
| ˘ ˘ | pyrrhus, dibrach |
| ˘ ¯ | iamb |
| ¯ ˘ | trochee, choree |
| ¯ ¯ | spondee |
| Trisyllables | |
| ˘ ˘ ˘ | tribrach |
| ¯ ˘ ˘ | dactyl |
| ˘ ¯ ˘ | amphibrach |
| ˘ ˘ ¯ | anapest, antidactylus |
| ˘ ¯ ¯ | bacchius |
| ¯ ¯ ˘ | antibacchius |
| ¯ ˘ ¯ | cretic, amphimacer |
| ¯ ¯ ¯ | molossus |
| Number of feet per line | |
| one | Monometer |
| two | Dimeter |
| three | Trimeter |
| four | Tetrameter |
| five | Pentameter |
| six | Hexameter |
| seven | Heptameter |
| eight | Octameter |
| See main article for tetrasyllables. | |
Usage[]
Trochaic inversion is normally used only on a foot immediately following a break (either a line break or a caesura.) The result of a trochaic inversion is to make the first 4 syllables following the break equivalent to the classical foot called the Choriamb; so trochaic inversion can also be seen and referred to as choriambic substitution (substituting a choriamb for the first 2 iambs).
Trochaic inversion is a normal practice when 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."[1]
- Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
- Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers.
- (John Keats, "To Autumn")
- DROWS'D with / the FUME / of POP/pies, WHILE / thy HOOK
- SPARES the / next SWATH / and ALL / its TWIN/ed flow/ers.
- Now is the winter of our discontent
- (William Shakespeare, Richard II)
- NOW is / the WIN/ter OF / our DIS/conTENT
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Alan T. Gaylord, Essays on the art of Chaucer's verse (Routledge, 2001), 150, Google Books, Web, July 19, 2011.
External links[]
- Trochaic Inversion at The Trochaic Inversion
| Original Penny's Poetry Pages article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0. |
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