Hexameter

Definition of Hexameter

Hex`am´e`ter

n.	1.	(Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A verse of six feet, the first four of which may be either dactyls or spondees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl, and the sixth always a spondee. In this species of verse are composed the Iliad of Homer and the Æneid of Virgil. In English hexameters accent takes the place of quantity. Leaped like the \| roe when he \| hears in the \| woodland the \| voice of the \| huntsman. - Longfellow. Strongly it \| bears us a- \| long on \| swelling and \| limitless \| billows, Nothing be- \| fore and \| nothing be- \| hind but the \| sky and the \| ocean. - Coleridge.
a.	1.	Having six metrical feet, especially dactyls and spondees.

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