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alternating-direction triplet

Form
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 triplet arranged in boustrophedon style—alternating direction of reading or writing—often for visual, conceptual, or performative effect.

Detailed Definition
Alternating-direction triplet describes three-line units that shift the direction of some formal element—such as rhyme, meter, or syntax—between occurrences. This might mean triplets that alternate between right-justified and left-justified rhymes, or between different metrical patterns, or between forward and inverted syntactic structures. The alternation creates patterned variation that gives structure to the poem while preventing the predictability that would result from identical triplets throughout.
Example
Example in poetry:
A three-line stanza where the first and third lines rhyme, but the second line's rhyme is found in the second line of the next triplet, creating an alternating-direction link.
Additional Notes
alternating-direction triplet is a three-line unit (triplet) in which a specific constraint, such as an alphabetic sequence or a thematic idea, is executed in one direction in the first two lines and then reversed in the third.
Also Known As
Switchback triplet Alternating-direction tercet Reversing triple rhyme Boustrophedonic tercet
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