A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given.

I want a simpler life, without the hassle of being online. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit the life I want.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter F

Full deficient four-foot

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 complete rhythmic form derived from an otherwise shortened or deficient four-foot pattern

Detailed Definition
Full deficient four-foot describes an iambic tetrameter line that is metrically complete in function and perception despite missing one or more expected syllables—often through elision or catalexis—yet retains rhythmic coherence and expressive intent, distinguishing it from accidental truncation by its deliberate, artistically integrated brevity within the poem’s overall prosody.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Shakespeare’s blank verse, full deficient four-foot lines appear for dramatic emphasis: “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!” (King Lear); In John Milton’s “Samson Agonistes,” deficient lines convey blindness and despair; In Emily Dickinson, iambic tetrameter often drops final unstressed syllable: “Because I could not stop for Death”; In Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods,” deficient lines create hushed tone: “And miles to go before I sleep”; In Sylvia Plath’s “Ariel,” deficient lines accelerate toward climax: “And I / Am the arrow”; In Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool,” deficient lines mimic jazz syncopation.
Additional Notes
Full deficient four-foot describes a tetrameter line missing one expected syllable, often at line-end. Compare with catalectic meter. Common in ballads—note how omission creates rhythmic tension or emphasis; scan lines to detect intentional shortening.
Also Known As
Full truncated tetrameter Complete deficient four-foot Whole shortened tetrameter Unbroken abbreviated line Hypodactylic tetrameter acatalectic
Skip to main content