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fading meter

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 diminishing rhythmic pattern that slows or softens toward the poem’s end

Detailed Definition
Fading meter describes a poetic line or sequence where metrical regularity gradually dissolves into irregularity or near-prose rhythm, often mirroring thematic dissolution, emotional exhaustion, or narrative collapse; this technique—used by T.S. Eliot in “The Waste Land” or by contemporary poets exploring trauma—employs rhythmic entropy to signal the breakdown of order, coherence, or hope within the poem’s world.
Example
Example in poetry:
Tennyson’s "Crossing the Bar" ends with fading meter: "And may there be no moaning of the bar, / When I put out to sea"; Hardy’s "The Darkling Thrush" slows rhythmically as hope wanes; Wilfred Owen’s "Futility" ends with fragmented, fading lines: "O what made fatuous sunbeams toil / To break earth’s sleep at all?"; Dickinson’s "Because I could not stop for Death" concludes with time dissolving into eternity through metrical softening.
Additional Notes
Fading meter describes a rhythmic pattern that gradually loses intensity, regularity, or stress—often mirroring thematic decline, exhaustion, or dissolution (e.g., final stanzas of elegies). It may involve increasing caesurae, shorter lines, or metrical substitution. Contrast with “advancing rhythm”; useful for analyzing how form enacts content. Students should scan lines to detect where and how the meter “fades.”
Also Known As
Diminishing meter Waning rhythm Fading cadence Ebbing beat Receding rhythm tapering cadence Waning measure
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