Trochaic octameter is a line of verse built from eight trochaic feet, with each foot following a stressed syllable and an unstressed syllable. The meter begins with a stress, so it often sounds forceful, marching, or incantatory. Because eight trochees make a long line, poets use it less often than shorter meters, but it can create a memorable, musical momentum.
This meter is relatively rare in English poetry due to its length and intensity, but it is famously associated with Edgar Allan Poe, who used it to powerful effect in “The Raven.”
Example
DARKENING clouds came rolling over silver fields at evening,
FADING fireflies answered from the reeds along the water.
Scansion: DARK-en-ing CLOUDS came ROLL-ing O-ver SIL-ver FIELDS at E-ven-ing
FAD-ing FIRE-flies AN-swered from the REEDS a-LONG the WA-ter
Example (from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”):
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Scansion (simplified):
ONCE up | ON a | MID night | DREAR y | WHILE I | PON dered | WEAK and | WEAR y
Each line contains eight trochees, producing the poem’s distinctive, hypnotic rhythm.