I was originally going to respond to momule's query on the "Foot Fetish" post with a poem. But it's been a long day and my brain is mush. So this will have to suffice.

Unlike Romance languages poetry, where lines are measured in syllables, English poetry count the feet of a line. Feet are combinations of beats. An accented syllable (/) of a word is a long beat, unaccented (u), short beat. The more common feet, the ones mentioned in my poem, are the following:

iambic u / Whose woods these are I think...

trochaic / u Once upon a midnight dreary

anapestic u u / intervene

dactylic / u u yesterday

spondaic / / football

you then count the number of feet in a line, and that's how you identify the metric form

5 iambic feet-iambic pentameter
8 anapestic feet-anapestic octameter

YIKES! It's still all Greek to me! I enjoy reading all of the various forms, would be hard-pressed to identify them, and still enjoy the release of writing my free verse...but I thank you kindly for trying to teach a few of us "old dawgs".

~~flutter~~

LOL! Cream here?

jr,

You're so patient with all of us -- and I doubt your brain is mush....it might be dwelling on mushy stuff relative to your trip to Spain.... Actually, I think my feet are in worse shape than your brain and perhaps that's why I never quite seem to hit the meter quite right. At least we'll have it all in one place to check out now.

Thank you kindly, sir....and perhaps a cold shower would help.....

VV- I think you put your finger, er, toe, on the subject.

Ma douce Mme. Galatéa- My harping on metrics is just an example of my curmudgeonly nature. A mid-year resolution on my part: to no longer mention feet, toes, arches, or heels in my commentary...but notice I didn't say anything about calves, thighs, or hips.

jr,

I think you should feel free to mention any part of the anatomy that you choose to...or the technical aspects of poetry as well. I appreciate your criticism even if I don't seem to benefit from it sometimes. I'm convinced that one day I'll wake up and "get it". And I've always found you to be warm and genteel -- not a curmudgeon at all!

I'll second that!

jr, the only problem is that I have two left feet that are both 'anapestic octameter' attached to two right ankles that are 'iambic pentameter'.

I think, not knowing all that I don't know, I should probably stick to writing prose except on those rare occasions when I have a taste or two of corn squeezins first.

Of course, I have now stopped drinking alcoholic beverages except when I'm alone or wth somebody.

“Whose woods these are” I thought
once upon a midnight dreary;
Intervene with yesterday’s football?
They must belong to John Kerry.

W-man,

You mean there are places where dreary rhymes with Kerry?

jr, good catch! As you know, there are places called Red States were Kerry ALWAYS rhymes with dreary.

In other places called Blue States and most other parts of the world, it would be considered false rhyme.

Y'know what I mean...?