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anapaest

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 foot composed of two short syllables followed by a long (unstressed-unstressed-stressed).

Explore this topic in depth (2)

How to Scan a Poem — Scansion is the practice of listening closely to a poem’s rhythm and marking its pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. It is not a way of forcing every line into a formula, but a method for hearing how regularity, variation and natural speech work together.

Metre and Rhythm — Metre gives poetry an underlying pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables; rhythm is the living sound that results when a person reads it. Learn to hear the beat before naming it, and to notice how poets use regularity and variation to make language move.

Detailed Definition
Anapaest is a metrical foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (da da DUM), creating a rising rhythm that builds toward the stressed syllable. Examples include "understand" and "interrupt." Anapestic meter produces a galloping, energetic quality that suits lively narratives, humorous verse, and poems requiring forward momentum. The foot's length and the accumulation of unstressed syllables before resolution creates anticipation and dynamic energy.
Example
Example in poetry:
Lord Byron’s “The Destruction of Sennacherib” uses anapaests for galloping rhythm (“And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea”); Clement Clarke Moore’s “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” relies on anapaestic tetrameter; Dr. Seuss’s children’s verse (“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow”) uses anapaests for bounce; anapaest (u u –) creates forward momentum; modern example: Wendy Cope’s light verse employs anapaests for comic timing; this foot suits narrative and humorous poetry.
Additional Notes
anapaest is a metrical foot of three syllables, characterized by the pattern: ∪∪− (unstressed-unstressed-stressed); this foot is often called the "galloping" or "marching" meter (e.g., "in-ter-VENE").
Also Known As
Anapaestic foot Rising trisyllable Anapaestic measure
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