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Hendecasyllabic stichic

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

Poetry composed of uninterrupted hendecasyllabic lines without stanzaic breaks, often used in narrative or lyrical contexts.

Detailed Definition
Hendecasyllabic stichic: Continuous unrhymed verse composed in hendecasyllabic lines (eleven syllables), a meter common in Italian poetry (e.g., Petrarch); it offers lyrical flexibility while maintaining rhythmic elegance through consistent syllabic count.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hendecasyllabic stichic: Catullus 1: “Cui dono lepidum novum libellum…” flows in continuous 11-syllable lines; Martial’s epigrams sustain hendecasyllabic stichic for wit; Italian canzone tradition uses unrhymed hendecasyllables; Contemporary poets like Joseph Brodsky adapt Russian hendecasyllabic stichic; Modern free verse mimicking hendecasyllabic cadence without strict count; Translations of Horace preserving stichic 11-syllable rhythm
Additional Notes
Continuous verse without stanzas, 11 syllables per line. Related: hendecasyllabic, stichic verse. Study: how syllabic count creates rhythm without stress-based meter.
Also Known As
Eleven-syllable stichic Hendecasyllabic succession Classical eleven-line verse Greek continuous line
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