Derived from Anglo-Saxon poetic traditions, Accented Meter is formed by number of stressed syllables, regardless of how many unstressed syllables are in between. Each line is composed of two hemistichs, of which contain two stressed syllables each.
Death had come
and taken them all || in times gone by
and the only one left || to tell their tale
the last of their line, || could look forward to nothing
but the same fate for himself: || he foresaw that his joy
in the treasure would be brief.