Home › Glossary › Letter C

Complete measure

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 fully realized metrical unit or line conforming to a set pattern

Detailed Definition
Complete measure describes a metrical line that fulfills its expected rhythmic pattern without truncation, substitution, or catalexis, embodying formal integrity; a perfect iambic pentameter like “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” exemplifies complete measure through consistent unstressed-stressed alternation across five feet.
Example
Example in poetry:
A complete iambic pentameter line: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”; A full trochaic tetrameter: “Tyger Tyger, burning bright”; A perfect dactylic hexameter in translation: “Arma virumque cano, qui primus ab oris” (rendered as “Arms and the man I sing, who first from Trojan shores...”); A complete spondaic line in context: “Break, break, break, / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!” (Tennyson uses spondees within a measured frame)
Additional Notes
Complete measure describes a metrical line fulfilling its expected foot count without truncation or substitution—contrasts with catalectic or acephalous lines; signals formal control or traditional adherence.
Also Known As
Perfect measure metrical completeness full metrical unit intact poetic foot sequence Full compound measure full measure
Skip to main content