Summary of the Lesson Iambs, trochees, anapests, and dactyls are the four most prevalent varieties of metrical foot. When discussing the meter of a poem, we employ a two-word term (for example, "iambic pentameter") to define what metrical feet are and how many metrical feet the meter utilizes. Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry, so it is not unusual for people to know this fact without knowing how to identify each type of foot. Iambic feet are composed of one syllable ending with a short sound and one syllable ending with a long sound. In iambic poetry, the first foot must be either a strong syllable or a weak syllable depending on how you look at it. Only twice during the course of a line will both feet be strong syllables. Otherwise, one foot will be a weak syllable and the other a strong syllable. In regular English, every other word starts with a consonant. This is because English is a phonetic language and most words contain equal numbers of vowels and consonants. However, this isn't true of all languages, such as Greek which is why some poets use this trait to their advantage by beginning their lines with unique and interesting sounds. The only way to determine if a line of poetry contains more consonants than others is to read it aloud and note how many times you hear a consonant sound.