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10-syllable verse

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Poetic lines structured with precisely ten syllables per line, often used in iambic pentameter or syllabic verse traditions.

Detailed Definition
10-syllable verse refers to any poetic line containing exactly ten syllables, regardless of metrical stress pattern; while often associated with iambic pentameter (which also has ten syllables), 10-syllable verse may follow other rhythmic schemes and is common in both classical and modern poetry for its balanced, speech-like cadence.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, each line has 10 syllables); “When I consider how my light is spent” (John Milton’s Sonnet, example of 10-syllable iambic pentameter); “To Autumn” by John Keats: “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”; “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson: “Half a league, half a league, half a league onward”
Additional Notes
10-syllable verse: A general term for any line with 10 syllables; most commonly refers to iambic pentameter, which is the meter of the sonnet and blank verse.
Also Known As
Decasyllabic line Ten-syllable line Heroic line Iambic pentameter base Decasyllable
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