In poetry, trochaic tetrameter is a meter featuring lines composed of four trochaic feet. The etymology of trochaic derives from the Greek trokhaios, from the verb trecho, meaning I run. In classical metre, a trochee is a foot consisting of a long syllable followed by a short syllable; in modern English poetry, a trochee is a foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. In classical metre, the word tetrameter means a line with four metra, wherein each metron contains two trochees, thus eight trochees; and, in the metre of modern poetry, trochaic tetrameter is a poetic line with four trochees. Example of trochaic tetrameter The rhythm of a line of trochaic tetrameter is: Using the symbols of classical poetry, the longum and the breve (brevis) a line of trochaic tetrameter is represented as: When the tetrameter is catalectic, the last syllable of the line is omitted. Literature The Song of Hiawatha An example of epic poetry written in trochaic tetrameter s The Song of Hiawatha (1855), by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; in the excerpt from the stanzas about “Hiawatha’s Childhood”, the bold text indicates the accented syllables of each trochee: A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare employed trochaic tetrameter in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1594), in the dialogues of the fairies, which are written in catalectic trochaic tetrameter; Puck speaks: The conversation between Puck and Oberon is written in catalectic trochaic tetrameter: King Lear The character of Edgar disguised as “Poor Tom”, in King Lear (1605): Macbeth The Three Witches in Macbeth (1606): Latin liturgy In the 13th century hymns written in medieval Latin, the Dies Irae (0000) is the poetry sequence of the Roman Catholic requiem mass, the first two verses are: . . . and in the Stabat Mater (0000) meditation on the suffering of Mary, during the Jesus crucifixion, the first two verses are: Kalevala meter Balto-Finnic (e.g. Estonian, Finnish, Karelian) folk poetry uses a form of trochaic tetrameter that has been called the Kalevala meter. The Finnish and Estonian national epics, Kalevala and Kalevipoeg, are both written in this meter. The meter is thought to have originated during the Proto-Finnic period. Its main rules are as follows (examples are taken from the Kalevala): Syllables fall into three types: strong, weak, and neutral. A long syllable (one that contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or ends in a consonant) with a main stress