Long-long-short 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

A five-foot line composed of reversed anapestic feet (two long stresses followed by a short).

Detailed Definition
Long-long-short pentameter is a metrical pattern consisting of five feet per line, where each foot typically follows a dactylic (long-long-short) rhythm—two stressed or long syllables followed by one unstressed or short syllable—though in practice, English approximations may vary; this meter is rare in English but echoes classical dactylic hexameter adapted into pentameter frameworks for experimental or archaic effect.
Example
Example in poetry:
Long-long-short pentameter (A metrical line of five feet, where the pattern of each foot is ——U (two stressed syllables followed by one unstressed), a rare, heavily trochaic/dactylic variant); A line attempting the rhythm: ——U/——U/——U/——U/——U
Additional Notes
Long-long-short pentameter: A metrical line with five feet, where each foot roughly follows a heavy-heavy-light (stress−stress−unstress) pattern; an unusual substitution for iambic pentameter, creating a heavy, thudding rhythm.
Also Known As
Heroic pentameter Spondaic pentameter Long-heavy-short foot Antibacchic pentameter
Skip to main content