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Hypodactylic hexameter

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 six-foot line beginning with a short syllable before continuing with dactyls

Detailed Definition
Hypodactylic hexameter is a six-foot line in which each foot is a hypodactyl—a dactyl ( / u u ) followed by an additional unstressed syllable ( / u u u )—yielding a flowing, extended rhythm; this rare metrical form appears in experimental poetry seeking to expand classical dactylic patterns into more fluid, prose-like cadences.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hypodactylic hexameter: A six-foot line where each foot is a hypodactyl (˘ ˘ ˘ ¯), e.g.: “In the quiet garden morning birds sang sweetly in the trees” — each foot stresses the fourth syllable.
Additional Notes
Dactylic hexameter with iamb substitution making it "hypo" (under/less than pure dactylic). Related: dactylic hexameter, substitution. Study: how iambs affect dactylic flow.
Also Known As
Shortened dactylic hexameter Reduced six-foot dactylic Deficient hexameter Under-extended dactylic
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