Asclepiad pentameter

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 five-unit line based on the Asclepiad, used in Hellenistic lyric poetry

Detailed Definition
Asclepiad pentameter is a five-foot adaptation of the Asclepiadic meter, maintaining the choriambic nucleus while adjusting length for lyrical flexibility; though uncommon in English, it appears in scholarly or experimental verse aiming to replicate Hellenistic prosodic subtlety and rhythmic grace.
Example
Example in poetry:
Asclepiad pentameter alternates glyconic and pherecratean measures in five units; Used in Greek lyric for complex emotional modulation; Horace adapts it for personal reflection; English approximations appear in 18th-century odes; The form balances symmetry and variation.

Asclepiadic pentameter: Five Asclepiadic cola; e.g., a Horatian construction: “While we speak, envious time has fled,” adapted to five repetitions of the Asclepiad colon.
Additional Notes
Asclepiad pentameter is an Asclepiadean line of five feet, characterized by the inclusion of a choriambic pattern; used famously by Horace in his Odes.

Five-foot line in Asclepiadic meter. Classical form. Less common than other Asclepiadic variations. Study Greek prosody and quantitative meter. Often combined with other meters in strophic patterns.
Also Known As
Five-foot Asclepiad Pentameter Asclepiad Asclepiad pentapody Asclepiadic pentameter Greek lyric five-foot Asclepiadic middle line
Skip to main content