Editing Hexameter (section)

== Classical hexameter ==
{{main|Dactylic hexameter}}
In classical hexameter, the six feet follow these rules:
* A foot can be made up of two long syllables (– –), a [[spondee]]; or a long and two short syllables, a [[Dactyl (poetry)|dactyl]] (– υ υ). 
* The first four feet can contain either one of them.  
* The fifth is almost always a dactyl, and last must be a spondee/[[trochee]] (together forming an [[adonic]]). Exceptions can occur when a polysyllabic (especially Greek) name ends a verse.

A short syllable (υ) is a syllable with a short vowel and no consonant at the end. A long syllable (–) is a syllable that either has a long vowel, one or more consonants at the end (or a [[Gemination|long consonant]]), or both. Spaces between words are not counted in syllabification, so for instance "cat" is a long syllable in isolation, but "cat attack" would be syllabified as short-short-long: "ca", "ta", "tack" (υ υ –).

Variations of the sequence from line to line, as well as the use of [[caesura]] (logical full stops within the line) are essential in avoiding what may otherwise be a monotonous sing-song effect.