A lyric metre named after the Greek poet Archilochus.

The metre is made up of two pairs of intermittant Archilochian verse and catalectic iambic trimeter in the following scheme:

-^^/-^^/-:^^/-^^//--/-^/--
^-^-/^:-^-/^-^
-^^/-^^/-:^^/-^^//--/-^/--
^-^-/^:-^-/^-^

(in the Archilochian: Each of the dactyls (-^^) can be replaced by Spondees (--) except for the fourth foot. The first spondee after the diaeresis can be replaced with a trochee (-^).
in the catalectic iambic trimeter: the first iambus (^-) of the first two metra can be replaced with a spondee.
The last syllable of the last feet can be replaced with a short or long one)

Example (in Latin):

 -   ^  ^/-^   ^/-  :  -/-   ^ ^   //-  ^/-  ^/ - -
iam Cytherea choros : ducit Venus // imminente Luna,
 -    -  ^  - / -  :   - ^ -/ ^ -  -
iunctaeque Nymphis : Gratiae decentes
-  -/ -  -/ -  :   ^ ^/-   ^ ^   // -    -/-   ^/ - -
alterno terram : quatiunt pede, // dum gravis Cyclopum
 -  - ^  -/ -   :  - ^  -/ ^ - -
Vulcanus ardens : visit officinas.

(Hor. Od. I, IV 1-4)

* - long or stressed syllable; ^ short or unstressed syllable; // diaeresis; : caesura.