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Amphibrachic five-foot

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 metrical line of five amphibrachs (u – u), creating a lilting, triple-time rhythm often used for lyrical or narrative fluidity in English verse.

Detailed Definition
Amphibrachic five-foot line consists of five amphibrachic feet, each featuring an unstressed syllable, a stressed syllable, and another unstressed syllable (u / u). This creates a fifteen-syllable line with a rolling, wavelike rhythm. The pattern's gentle rise and fall suits narrative verse and light-hearted subjects, though it can become monotonous without variation. The amphibrachic five-foot line provides moderate length and a distinctly rocking rhythm that distinguishes it from more common iambic or anapestic meters.
Example
Example in poetry:
Amphibrachic five-foot lines (˘ – ˘) are rare in English but appear in light verse: “In the middle of the night, when the moon was bright and high”; Longfellow occasionally used amphibrachic rhythms for narrative flow; Russian poetry (e.g., Lermontov) favors amphibrachic meters more than English; modern parodies mimic amphibrachic five-foot for comic effect; the meter creates a lilting, dance-like cadence distinct from iambic norms
Additional Notes
Amphibrachic five-foot is a line of verse composed of five amphibrachs (a metrical foot: ∪−∪, unstressed-stressed-unstressed); this is also known as amphibrachic pentameter, an uncommon meter in English.
Also Known As
Amphibrachic pentameter Five-foot amphibrach Amphibrachic long line
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