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Hendecasyllabic pentameter

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 five-unit line of eleven syllables, popular in Roman lyric poetry

Detailed Definition
Hendecasyllabic pentameter describes a five-foot poetic line containing eleven syllables, commonly used in Italian poetry (e.g., by Petrarch) where the extra syllable often results from a feminine ending; it provides rhythmic flexibility while maintaining a lyrical flow, influencing English poets like Tennyson who adapted continental forms into accentual-syllabic meters.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hendecasyllabic pentameter: Five 11-syllable lines: “Beneath the stars, we whispered secrets old. / The night held close what daylight would not keep. / …”
Additional Notes
Five-line verse (pentameter) with 11 syllables per line. Related: hendecasyllabic, pentameter. Study: why 11-syllable lines less common in English than 10.
Also Known As
Eleven-syllable pentameter Hendecasyllabic five-foot Classical middle eleven Greek extended pentameter
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