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Decasyllable

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 poetic line consisting of ten syllables, typically structured as five iambic feet (iambic pentameter) in English verse.

Detailed Definition
A decasyllable is a ten-syllable line, commonly used in French alexandrine variants or English blank verse approximations; it provides a balanced, flexible unit for narrative or dramatic poetry, accommodating iambic pentameter or other rhythmic patterns within its syllabic frame.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespearean sonnets use iambic pentameter (decasyllable): “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”; Milton’s “On His Blindness” opens with decasyllabic line: “When I consider how my light is spent”; Contemporary poet Terrance Hayes uses decasyllable in “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin”; Decasyllable underpins much English blank verse, from Marlowe to Heaney.
Additional Notes
Decasyllable means ten-syllable line. In English, usually iambic pentameter. In Romance languages (French, Italian), different stress patterns. Related to hendecasyllable. Specify meter for precision—syllable count alone incomplete.
Also Known As
Ten-syllable line decameter 10-syllable verse Decasyllabic line
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