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Double-short hexameter

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 hexameter line incorporating double-short (pyrrhic) metrical elements

Detailed Definition
Double-short hexameter is a six-foot line where each foot comprises two short syllables, yielding a fast-paced, fluid rhythm more typical of quantitative classical meters than English stress-based verse, sometimes used for novelty or musical imitation.
Example
Example in poetry:
A dactylic hexameter line containing internal pyrrhic (double-short) substitutions, as in Ovid’s Metamorphoses: “tempora labuntur, tacitisque senescimus annis”; Virgil occasionally uses double-short feet within hexameter for rhythmic fluidity; In Homeric Greek, lines like “πολλὰ δ’ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ μερμήριξεν” include pyrrhic elements; Latin hexameter in Lucretius may insert double-short feet to avoid monotony.
Additional Notes
Double-short hexameter includes pyrrhic substitutions within dactylic hexameter; found in Ovid and Virgil for fluidity; demonstrates classical flexibility within strict forms.
Also Known As
Pyrrhic hexameter Hexameter with pyrrhics Dactylic hexameter with double-shorts Ionic hexameter Six-foot pyrrhic
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