Home › Glossary › Letter G

Galloping meter

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 fast-paced metrical rhythm—often anapestic (da-da-DUM)—that mimics the gallop of horses, conveying urgency, joy, or momentum.

Detailed Definition
Galloping meter refers to any poetic rhythm—typically anapestic or dactylic—that creates a swift, bounding pace through repeated unstressed-stressed (or unstressed-unstressed-stressed) patterns; it is often used in narrative, comic, or children’s poetry for energetic propulsion.
Example
Example in poetry:
Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade” uses dactylic dimeter as galloping meter; Kipling’s “Gunga Din” employs galloping meter for narrative drive; Robert Service’s “Cremation of Sam McGee” uses galloping meter for ballad effect; Galloping meter appears in cowboy poetry traditions; Contemporary poet Billy Collins uses galloping meter ironically in “Litany.”
Additional Notes
Galloping meter: A non-technical term for any metrical pattern, usually involving a high concentration of triple meters (anapest or dactyl), that produces a rapid, light, and driving rhythm; often used for narrative or light verse.
Also Known As
Racing meter galloping rhythm rapid cadence Anapestic Anapestic tetrameter Anapest
Skip to main content