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four-foot trochee

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 line of verse consisting of four trochaic feet, each with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable

Detailed Definition
Four-foot trochee, or trochaic tetrameter, is a metrical line composed of four trochaic feet (DUM-da), creating a strong, falling rhythm often associated with incantation, urgency, or dramatic narrative; famously used in Poe’s “The Raven,” this meter’s emphatic beat lends itself to haunting, rhythmic insistence and heightened emotional states.
Example
Example in poetry:
Longfellow’s “By the shores of Gitche Gumee” (trochaic tetrameter); Poe’s “The Raven” opening; Nursery rhymes with four trochees; Dramatic monologues in trochee rhythm.
Additional Notes
A four-foot trochee (or trochaic tetrameter) is a line of verse composed of four trochaic feet, where each foot is one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable (–⌣); this meter is often used for chants, riddles, or to create a driving, insistent rhythm, famously in Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha.
Also Known As
Trochaic tetrameter four-foot trochee line trochaic quaternary Choreic tetrameter
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