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Bacchic five-measure

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 pentameter line structured around five Bacchiac feet (– ◡ ◡), used for rhythmic contrast in classical or experimental verse.

Detailed Definition
Bacchic five-measure denotes a metrical line composed of five consecutive bacchic feet (each: stressed-unstressed-unstressed), resulting in a fifteen-syllable line with a rolling, irregular rhythm; this rare form is used for dramatic or incantatory effect, challenging conventional iambic dominance in English prosody.
Example
Example in poetry:
Five bacchius feet in a line: “the STRONG and FIERCE will BREAK the WALLS with MIGHT”; A heroic-sounding pentameter of bacchii; An experiment in replacing iambs with bacchii in five-foot line; A rhythmic chant of five bacchiac feet
Additional Notes
Bacchic five-measure is a metrical line composed of five Bacchius feet (--∪), often called Bacchic pentameter; a line from classical Greek and Latin verse, less common in English.
Also Known As
five-foot Bacchiac Bacchiac pentapody five-measure rhythm Bacchiac quintet Bacchiac pentameter
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