Home › Glossary › Letter I

Imitative meter

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

Meter designed to echo natural rhythms—such as waves, breath, or footsteps—using stress patterns that mimic physical or organic processes.

Detailed Definition
Imitative meter: A metrical pattern deliberately chosen to mirror or enact the subject of the poem (e.g., galloping anapests for a horse ride, halting spondees for grief), creating a mimetic relationship between rhythm and content.
Example
Example in poetry:
Imitative meter: “The moan of doves in immemorial elms” mimics cooing sound; “And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling” (Poe) echoes fabric; Dactylic meter imitating galloping hooves in “Cavalry Crossing a Ford”; “Buzz” in trochaic meter mimics insect flight; Meter slowing to match “heavy steps through snow”; “Rattle” in spondees imitates dry bones clacking
Additional Notes
Meter mimicking its subject's movement/sound. "Tum-te-tum" for horse hooves. Related: imitative harmony, iconic meter. Study: Pope's "sound must seem an echo to the sense."
Also Known As
Echoing meter Mimetic rhythm Sound-copying measure Onomatopoetic prosody descriptive rhythm Iconic meter Imitative rhythm
Skip to main content