Tetrameter

Tetrameter is a line of verse with four feet, such as four iambs or four trochees.

Coleridge's opening line has four iambs, with the stressed syllables in capitals.

in XANaDU did KUbla KHAN

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Kubla Khan", 1816

What it is

The word comes from the Greek for "four measures". Iambic tetrameter is the line of many hymns, ballads and songs, because four beats are easy to sing and remember. Common meter alternates tetrameter and trimeter lines.

How to spot it

Tap the stresses as you read a line. If you tap four times, you are in tetrameter. Simple rhymes such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and many hymns use it, which is why it feels natural to sing along. A poem that mixes four-beat and three-beat lines, as many ballads do, is working with a rhythm that has been in English since the Middle Ages. Four beats give a steady pulse without getting heavy.

Try writing one line of your own. "The kettle sings, the window fogs" has four beats, and it reads like the start of a song. Add a second line that rhymes and you have the opening of a ballad.

Why it matters to a writer or editor

Tetrameter feels lighter and more musical than pentameter, which is why it turns up in songs and fast narrative poems. If a poem sounds like a song, check for four beats a line.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between tetrameter and pentameter?

Tetrameter has four feet to the line and pentameter has five. The extra foot makes pentameter feel longer and more formal.