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fourth paeon

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 metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by three unstressed syllables

Detailed Definition
A fourth paeon is a metrical foot consisting of three short (or unstressed) syllables followed by one long (or stressed) syllable (u u u /), rarely used in English poetry but occasionally employed for rhythmic variation or comic effect; its asymmetry creates a lilting, accelerating cadence that contrasts with more common iambic or trochaic patterns.
Example
Example in poetry:
The fourth paeon (stressed + three unstressed) appears in Hopkins’ sprung rhythm: “Glory be to God for dappled things—” (approximate); Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” has lines like “Cannon to right of them,” where “Cannon” approximates the pattern; modern example: “Thunder rolls through empty streets”; another: “Lightning cracks the sky’s black shell.”
Additional Notes
A fourth paeon is a metrical foot with three short syllables followed by one long (uuu–); rare in English poetry, it’s more common in classical quantitative verse.
Also Known As
Tetrabrach Quadruple short Four-light foot Complex four-syllable measure Three-short-one-long foot Paeon fourth
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