Home › Glossary › Letter M

Metrical expansion

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

The intentional extension of a metrical line through added syllables or feet, often for dramatic or lyrical effect.

Detailed Definition
Metrical expansion involves lengthening a standard metrical line by adding extra feet or syllables to accommodate emphasis, emotional intensity, or rhetorical flourish; this deliberate deviation from normative rhythm creates a sense of overflow or heightened expression, as seen in the occasional hexameter within a pentameter sequence.
Example
Example in poetry:
Expanding iambic trimeter to tetrameter: “The sun sets low” → “The golden sun sets low and slow”; Adding a foot to a dimeter line: “Night falls” → “Night falls softly over all”; Extending a monosyllabic line: “Go.” → “Go now, quickly, without fear”; Turning a pentameter into hexameter: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” → “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day so bright?”
Additional Notes
Metrical expansion lengthens a line beyond its base pattern for expressive effect—opposite of truncation; used to emphasize key words or emotional peaks.
Also Known As
Metrical augmentation rhythmic expansion prosodic stretching lengthened measure Added measure Foot addition
Skip to main content