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Octameter

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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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 metrical line composed of eight feet, typically used for expansive or elevated expression in narrative or didactic poetry.

Detailed Definition
Octameter is a metrical line consisting of eight feet—most commonly iambic (sixteen syllables)—that creates a rolling, expansive rhythm suited to narrative or incantatory verse; though rare in English due to its length and potential monotony, it appears in Longfellow’s “Evangeline” and Coleridge’s “Christabel,” where its cadence mimics natural speech or hypnotic chant, demanding careful caesura placement to maintain vitality.
Example
Example in poetry:
Octameter in Poe’s “The Raven” (“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary”); Longfellow’s “Evangeline” using dactylic octameter; rare in English due to length, but appears in narrative ballads like “The Ballad of East and West”
Additional Notes
Octameter is eight-foot poetic line. Rare in English due to length; risks sounding sing-song. Related to ballad meter doubled. See Poe's "The Raven" for tetrameter/trimeter variation. Difficult to sustain with dignity.
Also Known As
Eight-foot line Eight-measure verse Octuple meter Eight-stress line Octosyllable
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