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Full six-foot line

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 classical metrical line comprising six full, unshortened feet, commonly found in elevated or epic poetic traditions.

Detailed Definition
A full six-foot line is a hexameter verse line—typically dactylic in classical poetry or iambic in English—that provides expansive rhythmic space for narrative, descriptive, or meditative content; in English, it is less common but used for elevated or epic effects.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare occasionally uses full six-foot line (alexandrine) for emphasis; Dryden’s translations of Virgil use full six-foot line; Alexander Pope uses alexandrines to close heroic couplets; Full six-foot line appears in French classical verse; Contemporary poet Annie Finch uses full six-foot line for ritual effect.
Additional Notes
Full six-foot line: A metrical line that adheres strictly to six complete metrical feet, such as a pure iambic hexameter (Alexandrine in English); often used for a more expansive or formal sound.
Also Known As
Hexameter line six-foot verse full hexameter Acatalectic hexameter Untruncated hexameter
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