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hexameter couplet

Form
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 pair of consecutive lines written in classical dactylic or spondaic hexameter, typical of Greco-Roman epic poetry.

Detailed Definition
Hexameter couplet is a pair of lines written in dactylic hexameter—the classical meter of Greek and Latin epic—each line comprising six feet typically alternating dactyls and spondees; though rare in English due to linguistic differences, it appears in translations or neoclassical imitations to evoke grandeur, antiquity, or narrative sweep, as in Dryden’s renderings of Virgil.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hexameter couplet: two dactylic hexameter lines—rare in English, common in Latin; Longfellow’s “Evangeline” adapts it for narrative sweep; A modern experiment: “The river flows through forests deep and wide / Beneath the moon’s unblinking silver eye”; Hexameter couplets lend classical gravity to contemporary themes; The form challenges English stress-timing with quantitative rhythm.
Additional Notes
A two-line stanza (couplet) where both lines are written in hexameter (six metrical feet); commonly used in Classical Greek and Latin epic poetry; the combination is known as the elegiac couplet when alternating dactylic hexameter and pentameter.
Also Known As
hexameter pair dactylic couplet six-foot couplet epic couplet Alexandrine couplet
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