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Foot interruption

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 break within a metrical foot or substitution that disrupts regular rhythmic expectations

Detailed Definition
Foot interruption refers to a deliberate break or substitution within a metrical foot—such as a spondee in an iambic line or a trochee in dactylic verse—that disrupts expected rhythm to signal emphasis, tension, or thematic dissonance; this technique, used by Milton (“Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death”) and Hopkins, makes meter responsive to meaning, where prosodic “stumbles” mirror psychological or cosmic upheaval.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “The Windhover,” foot interruption via sprung rhythm breaks expected meter: “I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-”; T.S. Eliot interrupts iambic flow in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”: “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo”; In Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool,” caesurae create foot interruptions: “We / Left school”; Contemporary poet Danez Smith uses foot interruption in “not an elegy for Mike Brown” to fracture elegiac expectation; Shakespeare’s Macbeth uses foot interruption for psychological unease: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”; In Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus,” foot interruption mirrors bodily fragmentation.
Additional Notes
Breaking the pattern by removing or interrupting a foot; creates contrast and draws attention. Substitution or omission. Use for emphasis or disruption. Study Hopkins’ sprung rhythm. Enhances dynamic range. Ensure intentional effect. Effective for emotional peaks.
Also Known As
Foot omission Metrical interruption Rhythm break Line disruption Hypermetric interruption
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