Which metrical foot is described as short-short-long?

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Multiple Choice

Which metrical foot is described as short-short-long?

Understanding how poets arrange unstressed and stressed syllables helps you hear rhythm in lines. The description "short-short-long" is two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one, which is the anapest. In scansion, that pattern is u u /, meaning two light beats then a strong beat. That’s why it fits anapest: it’s the only common foot with that exact arrangement. By contrast, a dactyl is / u u (one strong beat followed by two light beats), an iamb is u / (unstressed then stressed), and a spondee is / / (two stressed). Antapest would be the reverse of anapest, long-short-short, so it’s not the same as short-short-long.

Understanding how poets arrange unstressed and stressed syllables helps you hear rhythm in lines. The description "short-short-long" is two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one, which is the anapest. In scansion, that pattern is u u /, meaning two light beats then a strong beat.

That’s why it fits anapest: it’s the only common foot with that exact arrangement. By contrast, a dactyl is / u u (one strong beat followed by two light beats), an iamb is u / (unstressed then stressed), and a spondee is / / (two stressed). Antapest would be the reverse of anapest, long-short-short, so it’s not the same as short-short-long.

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