Home › Glossary › Letter F

falling three-line unit

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 tercet structured to produce a descending rhythmic or melodic effect, often evoking resignation, closure, or gentle decline.

Detailed Definition
A falling three-line unit is a tercet structured to convey a sense of diminishment, resignation, or emotional descent across its three lines, achieved through syntactic weakening, fading imagery, or metrical softening; unlike climactic stanzas, it emphasizes loss, closure, or quietude, often serving as a reflective or elegiac counterpoint within a larger poem’s architecture.
Example
Example in poetry:
A three-line unit with falling stress, such as “Down in the valley, / Sorrow and pain, / Tears like the rain” where each line ends with a stressed syllable
Additional Notes
A falling three-line unit describes a poetic grouping of three lines (like a tercet) characterized by a rhythm that concludes on an unstressed syllable (a feminine ending) or predominantly utilizes 'falling' metrical feet (trochaic or dactylic); this metrical choice contributes to a softer or less assertive rhythmic feel.
Also Known As
Declining triplet Fading three-line unit Falling tricolon Cadential tercet
Skip to main content