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Heterorhythmic

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

Verse characterized by irregular, shifting, or mixed rhythmic patterns that defy consistent metrical expectations.

Detailed Definition
Heterorhythmic describes verse that combines multiple rhythmic patterns or meters within a single poem or line, creating polyrhythmic complexity; common in free verse and modernist poetry (e.g., Williams’s variable foot), it mirrors the syncopations of speech, thought, or urban life, rejecting metronomic regularity for a more organic, dynamic pulse that reflects contemporary experience’s fragmented yet coexisting temporalities.
Example
Example in poetry:
Heterorhythmic: A poem alternating iambic and trochaic lines unpredictably; Free verse shifting between duple and triple meters; “The Raven” mixes octameter with irregular stresses; Contemporary rap-poetry fusing hip-hop beats with sprung rhythm; Lines where syllable count varies wildly for emotional effect; Verse using syncopation to disrupt expected rhythmic patterns
Additional Notes
Having different rhythms simultaneously or in variation. Related: polyrhythmic, metrical variation. Study: contrast with isorhythmic (uniform rhythm).
Also Known As
Mixed rhythm irregular meter
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