Home › Glossary › Letter M

Mixed-foot hexameter

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 six-foot line combining different metrical feet within a single verse

Detailed Definition
Mixed-foot hexameter is a six-foot line that combines different metrical feet—such as iambs, trochees, anapests, or spondees—within a single verse to mirror natural speech rhythms or emotional complexity; unlike classical dactylic hexameter, this flexible approach allows for dynamic variation while retaining the line’s expansive, narrative capacity in modern poetic practice.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Dactyl and spondee mix in lines of six feet” shows mixed-foot hexameter; “Rolling waves crash—loud, fierce, wild—on the shore” combines dactyls, trochees, and spondees in hexameter; Classical Latin hexameter adapted into English often becomes mixed-foot; “Thunder rumbles, shaking earth, sky, soul” uses mixed feet in six-beat line
Additional Notes
Mixed-foot hexameter combines different metrical feet (e.g., iambs, trochees, anapests) within six-beat lines to create rhythmic variety while maintaining line length; useful for mimicking natural speech in narrative verse.
Also Known As
Heterometric Hexameter Flexible Six-Foot Adaptive Long Line Mixed Rhythmic Hexameter Logaoedic hexameter mixed anapestic hexameter
Skip to main content