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Eleven-syllable line

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 single poetic line composed of exactly eleven syllables, common in Romance-language prosody and adapted in English for lyrical flexibility.

Detailed Definition
An eleven-syllable line is a poetic line containing precisely eleven syllables, frequently used in non-English traditions like Italian hendecasyllable verse; in English poetry, it offers a flexible alternative to iambic pentameter, allowing for expressive variation while maintaining lyrical coherence and rhythmic integrity across stanzas or free verse compositions.
Example
Example in poetry:
“I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats” (11 syllables with elision); “O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done” (Whitman, often read as 11); “The woods are lovely, dark and deep” (Frost, 11 with natural speech rhythm); “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare, 11 in performance with emphasis)
Additional Notes
Eleven-syllable line is synonymous with hendecasyllable; in English, it often appears as iambic pentameter plus a feminine ending, offering a softer, more musical cadence than strict pentameter.
Also Known As
Hendecasyllable eleven-count line undecasyllabic measure classical eleven-syllable unit Hendecasyllabic verse Hendecasyllabic meter
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