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Aggregate meter

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

Meter determined by counting total syllables across multiple lines rather than individual line patterns

Detailed Definition
A metrical system where the rhythmic pattern is established by the cumulative syllable count of stanza groups rather than maintaining consistent meter within each line, allowing for more flexible line lengths while preserving overall structural rhythm
Example
Example in poetry:
Aggregate meter in Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” mixes iambic, anapestic, and free rhythms; aggregate meter in C.K. Williams’s long-lined narratives; Ezra Pound’s “Cantos” shift meters to mirror cultural fragments; aggregate meter combines multiple metrical systems within one poem
Additional Notes
Maintaining aesthetic distance allows reader perspective, critical judgment. Too close = overwhelming; too far = detachment. Balance empathy and analysis. Russian Formalist concept—"defamiliarization."
Also Known As
cumulative meter collective meter
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