The Sapphic verse, according to Fabricius, Smetius, and all good authorities, has eleven syllables, making "five feetthe first a trochee, the second a spondee, the third a dactyl, and the fourth and fifth trochees."

The first foot is often varied by a substitutional trochee; as, "Bacchus, | that first | from out | the pur | -ple grape Crush'd the | sweet poi | -son of | mis-=us