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Dibrachic pentameter

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 five-foot line composed of dibrachs (two short syllables per foot)

Detailed Definition
Dibrachic pentameter consists of five consecutive dibrachic feet (two unstressed syllables per foot), producing a swift, breathless cadence that lacks strong stresses; this unusual meter is seldom used in serious poetry but may appear in lighthearted or avant-garde works to subvert traditional rhythmic expectations.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dibrachic pentameter (˘ ˘ x5) uses double short syllables: Extremely rare in English; appears in Greek lyric fragments; modern experimental poets like David Melnick use dibrachic rhythms in “PCOET”; Latin prosody occasionally employs dibrachs in comedy; contemporary metrical studies by Derek Attridge note its near-absence in stress-based languages.
Additional Notes
Five-foot line incorporating dibrachs for lighter, quicker rhythm than standard pentameter. Experimental variation. Difficult to sustain in English. Compare with iambic and trochaic pentameters.
Also Known As
Five-foot pyrrhic Five-measure unstressed Pentametric double-short
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