Cretic in the context of Trochee

A metron /ˈmɛtrɒn/, /ˈmɛtrən/ (from ancient Greek μέτρον "measure"), plural metra, is a repeating section, 3 to 6 syllables long, of a poetic metre.

The word is particularly used in reference to ancient Greek. According to a definition by Paul Maas, usually a metron consists of two long elements and up to two other elements which can be short, anceps or biceps. Thus an iambic metron is x – ᴗ – (where "x" represents an anceps element), a trochaic metron is – ᴗ – x, an ionic metron is ᴗ ᴗ – –, an anapaestic metron is ᴗᴗ – ᴗᴗ –, a cretic metron – ᴗ –, a baccheus is ᴗ – –, and a spondee is – –.

Choliambic verse (Ancient Greek: χωλίαμβος), also known as limping iambs or scazons or halting iambic, is a form of meter in poetry. It is found in both Greek and Latin poetry in the classical period. Choliambic verse is sometimes called scazon, or "lame iambic", because it brings the reader down on the wrong "foot" by reversing the stresses of the last few beats. It was originally pioneered by the Greek lyric poet Hipponax, who wrote "lame trochaics" as well as "lame iambics".

The basic structure is much like iambic trimeter, except that the last cretic is made heavy by the insertion of a longum instead of a breve. Also, the third anceps of the iambic trimeter line must be short in limping iambs. In other words, the line scans as follows (where — is a long syllable, ⏑ is a short syllable, and × is an anceps):