Home › Glossary › Letter F

Four-beat rising line

Meter
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 metrical line containing four rising feet (iambic or anapestic), producing a forward-moving, energetic cadence common in narrative verse.

Detailed Definition
A four-beat rising line is a metrical verse line containing four iambic (unstressed-stressed) feet, also known as iambic tetrameter, commonly used in ballads and hymns for its steady, song-like rhythm; examples include Gray’s “The curfew tolls the knell of parting day” and Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud.”
Example
Example in poetry:
“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day” (Gray’s “Elegy” – iambic tetrameter, four beats); “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (Wordsworth – four rising beats); “The woods are lovely, dark and deep” (Frost – four-beat iambic line); “And miles to go before I sleep” (Frost – clear four-beat rising rhythm)
Additional Notes
A four-beat rising line has four stressed syllables preceded by unstressed ones (typically iambic tetrameter)—forms the backbone of many English ballads and hymns; offers rhythmic stability with lyrical flexibility.
Also Known As
Iambic tetrameter four-stress rising line rhythmic tetrameter regular four-beat meter four-beat iamb tetrameter iamb
Skip to main content