°Referring to a
metrical pattern of
poetry where each
foot is composed of 3
syllables, the first and third of which are stressed and the second is unstressed. This pattern is very rare in English poetry.
"Example: In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream the fairy speaks in cretic
dimeter beginning: "Over hill, Over Dale." (Thus the line has six syllables and naturally is spoken as "OV-er HILL/OV-er DALE.")"