Home › Glossary › Letter E

Equilibrated tercet

Form
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 balanced three-line stanza maintaining symmetrical proportion in line length, stress, or thematic weight; it creates harmony, classical poise, and a sense of measured, rounded completeness.

Detailed Definition
An equilibrated tercet is a three-line stanza where syntactic weight, syllabic count, or imagistic balance creates harmonic stability among its parts; unlike asymmetrical tercets that build tension, this form achieves equipoise through mirrored phrasing, parallel structure, or complementary ideas that resonate in triadic unity.
Example
Example in poetry:
A tercet where each line contains the same number of syllables and stresses, such as in Frost’s Stopping by Woods: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep”
Additional Notes
A unit of three lines (tercet) where the rhythm, meter, or conceptual weight is deliberately balanced or harmonized across the lines; a key feature of the terza rima where lines interlock and balance.
Also Known As
Balanced tercet Symmetrical three-line stanza Harmonized triplet
Skip to main content