HEXAMETER, the earliest known form of classical verse in dactylic rhythm. The word indicates that each line contains six feet or measures (Airpa), whereof the last is always a spondee (- -) or a trochee (- -) . When the last foot is a trochee, the pause at the end of the line makes up for the short syllable. The fifth foot is usually a dactyl (- - ) ; the rest indifferently dactyls or spondees.
In Latin and Greek it is the invariable metre of epic and didactic poetry; in Latin it is also the metre of satire from the period of Horace onwards. In modern languages, Longfellow, Kingsley, Clough, and several German poets have written hexameters of a sort, substituting accent for quantity. The English verses are usually unsatisfactory, owing to the lack of any real equivalent for a spondee ; and the German are much worse, owing to the scarcity of really short syllables. Accent alone cannot give the true effect of either spondee or dactyl. Even the classic Greek poets made many variations in their treatment of the hexameter.
Examples of hexameters are : In ancient authors, according to age and subject matter, hex ameters differ widely as regards proportion of dactyls to spondees, avoidance of elision, relation of quantity to accent, and other less obvious features.