Many of the great works of world literature are composed in metrical verse, that is, in lines which are measured and patterned. Meter in Poetry: A New Theory is the first book to present a single simple account of all known types of metrical verse, which is illustrated with detailed analyses of poems in many languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, French, classical Greek and Latin, Sanskrit, classical Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Latvian. This outstanding contribution to the study of meter is aimed both at students and scholars of literature and languages, as well as anyone interested in knowing how metrical verse is made.

The first book to offer a universal linguistic theory of poetic meter Discusses in detail the metrical verse of poems in many languages including French, Spanish, Italian, classical Greek, Arabic, Sanskrit, Latvian and biblical Hebrew Complete with many examples taken from poems, which include English translations

1. A theory of poetic meter; 2. English strict meters; 3. English loose meters; 4. Southern Romance Carlos Piera; 5. French; 6. Greek; 7. Classical Arabic; 8. Sanskrit; 9. Latvian; 10. Meters of the world; 11. The metrical poetry of the Old Testament.