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Iambic trimeter

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 three-foot line of iambs (∪ — ∪ — ∪ —), foundational in Greek drama

Detailed Definition
Iambic trimeter is a metrical line of three iambic feet (six syllables total), offering a concise, rhythmic structure frequently used in lyric poetry, hymns, and light verse; its brevity supports clarity and memorability, as seen in many of Emily Dickinson’s stanzas or A.E. Housman’s compact lyrics.
Example
Example in poetry:
Iambic trimeter (˘ ‒ x3) creates concise rhythm: Emily Dickinson’s alternating lines (“Hope is the thing”); Ben Jonson’s “Still to Be Neat”; modern examples include Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”; A.E. Housman’s “Loveliest of Trees”; W.H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues” (“He was my North, my South”).
Additional Notes
Three iambic feet per line. Six syllables typically. Related: iambic meter, trimeter. Study: trimeter in English vs. Greek/Latin—different effects.
Also Known As
Three-stress iambic Iambic three-foot Medium iambic line
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