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Foot addition

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

The inclusion of an extra metrical foot to alter rhythm or extend emphasis in a line

Detailed Definition
Foot addition is a metrical variation in which an extra metrical foot is inserted into a line, temporarily expanding its length to accommodate emphasis, syntactic complexity, or emotional surge; common in iambic verse (e.g., adding a sixth foot to pentameter), it creates rhythmic surprise without disrupting the underlying pattern, as in Shakespeare’s occasional hexameter lines that heighten climactic moments through controlled metrical overflow.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, foot addition appears in Hamlet’s soliloquy: “To be, or not to be—that is the question” (an extra unstressed syllable); John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” uses foot addition for emphasis: “Him the Almighty Power / Hurled headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky” (sixth foot); In Emily Dickinson, foot addition creates breath-like pauses: “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me –”; Contemporary poet Terrance Hayes adds feet in “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” to stretch political tension; Walt Whitman’s free verse often implies foot addition through cataloging; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” foot addition amplifies rhythmic rage: “There’s a stake in your fat black heart.”
Additional Notes
Foot addition inserts an extra metrical foot into a line, creating rhythmic surprise or emphasis. Contrast with shortened or deficient lines. Common in dramatic verse—scan to see if the addition signals emotional overflow or structural pivot.
Also Known As
Added foot Metric augmentation Metrical expansion Foot insertion Hypermetric expansion
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