Read the lines of verse from "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! Long has it waved on high,

What type of meter do these lines of verse use?

trimeter

trochaic tetrameter

tetrameter

tetrameter and trimeter

The correct answer is B. trochaic tetrameter.

This is a somewhat unusual meter for Anglophone poetry (poetry written in English language). The traditional meter in English language has been iambic, meaning that the second syllable is emphasized. However, in trochaic meter, the first syllable is emphasized. The word "tetrameter" means that there are four feet in a line, a foot being a pair of syllables.

trochaic tetrameter ... Just had this question my self