Home › Glossary › Letter L

Limping pentameter

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

Iambic pentameter with a disrupted or irregular rhythm, often ending weakly

Detailed Definition
Limping pentameter describes iambic pentameter lines that falter rhythmically through substitutions, caesuras, or irregular stresses to convey weakness, hesitation, or emotional strain; this deliberate metrical “limp” mirrors thematic instability, as in poems of doubt, aging, or psychological fracture.
Example
Example in poetry:
Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” uses limping pentameter with irregular stresses to mimic speech; T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” includes limping pentameter in fragmented lines like “I will show you fear in a handful of dust”; John Berryman’s “Dream Songs” employ limping pentameter for psychological unease; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” uses limping pentameter to convey emotional instability.
Additional Notes
Limping pentameter deliberately stumbles—through extra stresses, substitutions, or breaks—to convey psychological unease or speech-like realism; used by Browning and Eliot; contrasts with steady iambic flow; effective for dramatic monologue.
Also Known As
Halting pentameter Lame meter Crippled line Irregular heroic verse Five-foot choliambic complete Scazon pentameter
Skip to main content