Metrical Feet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Trochee trips from long to short; 
From long to long in solemn sort 
Slow Spondee stalks, strong foot!, yet ill able 
Ever to come up with Dactyl's trisyllable. 
Iambics march from short to long. 
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng. 
One syllable long, with one short at each side, 
Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride -- 
First and last being long, middle short, Amphimacer 
Strikes his thundering hoofs like a proud high-bred Racer. 

If Derwent be innocent, steady, and wise, 
And delight in the things of earth, water, and skies; 
Tender warmth at his heart, with these meters to show it, 
WIth sound sense in his brains, may make Derwent a poet -- 
May crown him with fame, and must win him the love 
Of his father on earth and his father above. 
My dear, dear child! 
Could you stand upon Skiddaw, you would not from its whole ridge 
See a man who so loves you as your fond S.T. Colerige.

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