Poetic Terms Dictionary
Meter & Rhythm

Trimeter

From Greek trimetros: three measures. Iambic trimeter was the metre of Greek tragedy's dialogue; in English it appears mainly in songs, hymns, and mixed-length stanzas.

Definition

A line of three metrical feet — common in lighter lyric, the ode strophe, and song.

Example

'Come live with me and be my love' — three iambs; Horace's Sapphic stanza uses a closing trimeter (Adonic).

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