It is written in dimeter iambics, an easier measure than the hexameter, and therefore more within the reduced capacity of the time.
The synaphea peculiar to this metre is neglected by him, and the rule that each system should close with a paroemiac or dimeter catalectic is constantly violated.
It might be described as an iambic hepthemimer followed by a trochaic dimeter brachycatalectic.
According to these definitions, Dimeterhas as many feet as Tetrameter; and Trimeter has as many as Hexameter!
These six lines of Dactylic (or Composite) Dimeter are subjoined by the poet to four of Trochaic Tetrameter.
The leading man chanted a dimeter line, generally with an iambus in the first foot; but when the road was difficult or the ascent toilsome, the metre became trochaic, in accordance with the best traditions of classical poetry.
The hind-men responded with a sing-song trochaic dimeter which sounded like a long-drawn-out monosyllable.
The normal line of which these quatrains are composed is a thirteen-syllabled one divided by a central pause, so that the first half is an iambic dimeter catalectic, and the second an iambic dimeter hypercatalectic.
