hexameter

Hex*am"e*ter, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. hexamètre. See Six, and Meter.] (Gr. & Lat. Pros.) Defn: A verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either dactyls or spondees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl, and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are composed the Iliad of Homer and the Æneid of Virgil. In English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity. Leaped like the | roe when he | hears in the | woodland the | voice of the | huntsman. Longfellow. Strongly it | bears us a- | long on | swelling and | limitless | billows, Nothing be- | fore and | nothing be- | hind but the | sky and the | ocean. Coleridge. Hex*am"e*ter, a. Defn: Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees. Holland.

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