Home › Glossary › Letter A

Aeolic meter

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

A family of meters found in Aeolic Greek lyric poetry, notably Sappho and Alcaeus

Detailed Definition
The metrical system associated with Greek Aeolic poetry, particularly Sappho and Alcaeus, characterized by flexible mixing of various metrical feet and rhythmic freedom within established patterns. Aeolic meter includes forms like Sapphic, Alcaic, and glyconic, featuring choriambs and other varied feet. This system emphasizes musical beauty and rhythmic grace over strict regularity, allowing poets substantial flexibility while maintaining recognizable metrical structures. Aeolic meter influenced later European lyric traditions seeking musical fluidity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Aeolic meter includes Sapphic stanzas (three glyconics + adonic), Alcaic quatrains, and asclepiadean forms; it’s characterized by choriambic nuclei and asymmetrical feet; Horace’s Odes are prime Latin examples adapting Greek Aeolic meters; Anne Carson’s “The Beauty of the Husband” uses Aeolic meters to frame marital elegy; contemporary poet A.M. Juster writes original poems in strict Aeolic meters; unlike dactylic hexameter, Aeolic meter favors lyrical subjectivity over narrative sweep.
Additional Notes
Aeolic meter encompasses the lyric meters of Sappho and Alcaeus, including Sapphic and Alcaic stanzas; known for musicality, emotional directness, and irregular but patterned rhythms.
Also Known As
Aeolic rhythm Aeolic scansion Aeolic poetic meter Aeolic verse Greek middle meter
Skip to main content