Home › Glossary › Letter M

Metrical variation

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 deliberate break from a poem’s established meter, used for emphasis, surprise, or expressive variation.

Detailed Definition
Metrical variation introduces deliberate deviations from a poem’s established meter to reflect emotional shifts, natural speech, or thematic disruption; essential to expressive versification, it prevents rigidity and deepens the interplay between form and content.
Example
Example in poetry:
The use of an extra, unaccented syllable at the end of an iambic line (feminine ending); A sudden shift from iambic to trochaic meter for a single line or stanza to indicate a change in tone or pace; Incorporating a spondee (DUM-DUM) in a line of otherwise iambic verse for emphasis: 'The HEART, THE BRAIN is all I have to keep.'; Varying the length of the line, such as shifting from pentameter to trimeter, while keeping the same basic foot (e.g., iambic).

Emily Dickinson’s slant rhymes (“room”/“storm”) exemplify metric deviation; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” deviates from nursery rhyme meter for trauma; Contemporary poet Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” uses prose blocks as metric deviation; Walt Whitman’s cataloging deviates from classical meter; T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” uses fragmented meters as deviation; Ocean Vuong’s “Time Is a Mother” deviates through prose-lyric hybridity.
Additional Notes
Any change or departure from the established metrical pattern within a poem, such as substituting a different foot or varying the position of the caesura; prevents the rhythm from becoming too predictable.

Metric deviation substitutes or omits expected feet for expressive effect. Related to prosodic replacement and metric deviation. Scan carefully—deviations should highlight key words or emotions without destabilizing the base rhythm entirely.
Also Known As
Rhythmic variation metrical change variant meter Foot substitution Metric deviation Rhythmic substitution Substituted rhythm Rhythm deviation Altered meter
Skip to main content