Home › Glossary › Letter 1

11-syllable verse

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

Poetry composed in lines consistently containing eleven syllables, often used in classical and Romance-language verse traditions.

Detailed Definition
An 11-syllable verse refers to a complete poetic composition or stanza built predominantly or entirely from lines of eleven syllables each, often employed to achieve a lyrical cadence distinct from standard English meters; this form is especially prevalent in Italian, Spanish, and French poetry, where the hendecasyllable serves as a foundational metrical unit.
Example
Example in poetry:
Giovanni Pascoli’s “L’assiuolo” uses consistent 11-syllable lines throughout; Rubén Darío’s “Sonatina” employs hendecasyllabic verse in Spanish tradition; Catullus’s Carmina often follow the 11-syllable phalaecean hendecasyllable; Modern English attempts like Wallace Stevens’s “The Snow Man” occasionally approximate 11-syllable lines for classical effect
Additional Notes
11-syllable verse refers broadly to poetic lines consistently structured around eleven syllables; it’s foundational in Romance-language traditions and can create a flowing, lyrical cadence distinct from English’s stress-based meters.
Also Known As
Hendecasyllabic verse eleven-syllable composition classical eleven-verse Hendecasyllable
Skip to main content