These are occasional additions to poetic lines; they never comprise an entire line of a poem. A “pyrrhic” foot is empty, like a “pyrrhic victory.” See http://www.who2.com/pyrrhus.html

In this example, the accented syllables are in capital letters since using the actual symbols (/ for strong syllables and a shallow u, called a “breve,” for unaccented syllables) is difficult in PowerPoint.  When you sound out a section of poetry, exaggerating your natural pronunciation of words can help you to see the metrical pattern.  Multisyllabic words are especially helpful; for example, you would say CURfew, not curFEW and PARTing, not partING, so the accented syllables in those words would help you to determine the pattern.

Note how the fourth line begins with a spondee, or two-syllable foot in which both syllables are accented. Also, there are four accented syllables but only three unaccented syllables.  This is common, since it prevents the poems from being too “sing-songy.” The meter here would be trochaic tetrameter (four beats), even though the unaccented syllables at the end are missing.

This meter is common for classical epics, and Longfellow here is imitating epic meter: dactylic hexameter.  However, it is a meter less commonly used in English.

Also called “galloping meter,” anapestic tetrameter, the type illustrated here, helps to indicate movement. 

The rhythm sounds something like this: da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM.

You may recognize this verse from Lewis Carroll’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND.  It is a parody of a famous moral poem for children called “‘Tis the Voice of the Sluggard” by Isaac Watts.  To see both the original and Carroll’s version, look under Course Documents, Lecture Notes, Poetry, Parody.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha”

Frances E. W. Harper, “The Slave Mother”