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Adonic

Foot
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

A metrical foot consisting of a dactyl followed by a trochee (– ˘ ˘ – ˘), often used in Sapphic stanzas

Detailed Definition
The Adonic foot (– ˘ ˘ – ˘) is a five-syllable unit traditionally closing the Sapphic stanza, named after the hymns to Adonis; its distinctive rhythm combines falling and rising stresses, creating a lyrical, incantatory effect that enhances emotional intensity in both ancient Greek lyric poetry and later imitations in English, such as in Swinburne’s or Tennyson’s works.
Example
Example in poetry:
The Adonic foot (dactyl + trochee: – u u – x) appears in Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite”: “Come with all grace”; In Latin elegy, Catullus uses Adonic lines like “O Venus, queen of love”; Modern poets like Tennyson echo it in “Break, break, break / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!” (final line approximates Adonic rhythm); The closing line of a Sapphic stanza often uses an Adonic foot: “Goddess, hear my plea”; Ezra Pound imitates the form in “Papyrus”: “Spring… the grass is full of dew” (final phrase mimics Adonic brevity); In Greek drama, Adonic lines punctuate emotional climaxes, as in Euripides’ “Hippolytus”: “Alas! My fate is sealed”.
Additional Notes
Adonic: A metrical foot consisting of a dactyl followed by a trochee (– u u – x), commonly used in Greek and Latin poetry, especially in Sapphic stanzas as the final line; it creates a solemn or emphatic closure and is named after the hymns to Adonis; useful for students to recognize its role in lyric poetry’s rhythmic resolution.
Also Known As
Adonic verse
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