Home › Glossary › Letter I

Iambic octameter acatalectic

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 full eight-foot iambic line containing sixteen syllables, with no truncation or catalexis at line end.

Detailed Definition
Iambic octameter acatalectic is a rare, expansive line of eight unbroken iambic feet (u – repeated eight times), totaling sixteen syllables; its rolling cadence appears in narrative or experimental verse (e.g., Poe’s “The Raven” uses a modified version) to sustain momentum or evoke incantatory power.
Example
Example in poetry:
Iambic octameter acatalectic: A full iambic octameter with no truncation: “The gentle breeze that whispers through the willows by the stream” — all sixteen syllables present.
Additional Notes
Complete iambic octameter (no shortened foot). All eight feet full. Related: acatalectic, octameter. Study: monumental effect vs. practical difficulties.
Also Known As
Complete iambic octameter Full eight-foot iambic Untruncated long iambic Whole rising octameter
Skip to main content