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Agitated tetrameter

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

A four-foot line characterized by irregular or anxious rhythmic movement

Detailed Definition
Agitated tetrameter is a four-foot metrical line featuring deliberate rhythmic disruption or irregularity that creates tension and emotional unrest. Through unexpected stress patterns, caesuras, or metrical substitutions, this variation of tetrameter conveys anxiety, conflict, or instability, making the rhythm itself an expressive element that reinforces troubled themes.
Example
Example in poetry:
Blake's "The Tyger" uses insistent four-beat lines with irregular stress to create urgency; Poe's "The Raven" employs trochaic tetrameter with variations for haunting effect; Dickinson often disrupts hymn meter to convey psychological tension; Yeats's "The Second Coming" uses broken tetrameter to suggest apocalyptic disorder
Additional Notes
Four-beat lines with irregular stress placement that create urgency or unease. Often uses unexpected spondees or trochees to disrupt expected iambic pattern. Effective for Gothic poetry, horror verse, and expressing psychological tension.
Also Known As
Disturbed four-beat Restless tetrameter Turbulent four-stress Unsettled quadruple meter Dochmiac tetrameter
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