Scansion Tool

Metrical Foot · falling rhythm

The Trochee (- ˘)

A trochee is a two-syllable metrical foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (- ˘) - a falling, incantatory rhythm.

Worked Example

William Blake, 'The Tyger'

TYger TYger, BURN-ing BRIGHT

- ˘ | - ˘ | - ˘ | - ˘

Result: Trochaic Tetrameter (four trochees, catalectic)

Flip the iamb and you get the trochee: stress first, slack second. The result is a falling rhythm that feels urgent, chant-like, or magical - which is why Blake's 'The Tyger', Longfellow's 'Song of Hiawatha', and most of the spells and incantations in English drama are trochaic.

Because English sentences usually end on a strong beat, pure trochaic lines often drop their final unstressed syllable - a 'catalectic' line. Blake's famous line above is catalectic trochaic tetrameter: four trochees minus the last slack syllable.

Trochees also appear inside iambic poems as substitutions. An opening trochee ('Now is the winter of our discontent') adds dramatic punch before the iambic pulse resumes. Automatic scansion tools must therefore distinguish a genuinely trochaic line from an iambic line with one inversion.

Paste a suspected-trochaic passage into the Poetry Meter Checker or run a whole-poem audit with the Scansion Checker to see where falling feet begin and end.

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FAQ

Trochee Questions

What is a trochee in poetry?

A trochee is a two-syllable metrical foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (- ˘) - a falling, incantatory rhythm. The notation for a trochee is - ˘, and it spans two syllables.

How do I identify trochees in a poem?

Read the line aloud and mark natural word accents with - for stressed and ˘ for unstressed syllables. Look for the repeating - ˘ unit and divide feet with vertical bars. Our Poetry Meter Checker automates this mapping and lets you correct any syllable by clicking it.

What meter do repeated trochees create?

Trochaic Tetrameter (four trochees, catalectic). Foot type plus count names the full meter - e.g. five iambs make iambic pentameter.