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Antispastic six-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 hexameter line constructed from six antispastic feet (u – – u), producing a complex, syncopated rhythm rarely used in English poetry.

Detailed Definition
Antispastic six-foot denotes a hexameter line built from six antispastic feet (— ∪ ∪), an uncommon metrical structure derived from classical prosody that emphasizes a lilting, descending cadence; poets employing this form often do so to evoke antiquity or to challenge conventional rhythmic expectations, requiring careful syllabic arrangement to preserve coherence and lyrical flow within the extended line.
Example
Example in poetry:
Antispastic six-foot lines (cretic + iamb x6) occur in ancient Greek choral odes; Used for elevated, ritualistic contexts; English approximations appear in Milton’s blank verse for grandeur; The pattern resists natural speech, favoring formal declamation; Contemporary liturgical poets occasionally revive it for sacred themes.
Additional Notes
Antispastic six-foot refers to a line of verse with six antispasts (–∪∪-), a rare and highly quantitative meter primarily found in Greek and Latin poetry, emphasizing long syllables; note the reverse pattern of a choriamb (-∪∪–).
Also Known As
Six-foot antispast Hexameter antispastic Antispastic hexapody Antispastic hexameter
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