Home › Glossary › Letter P

Paeonic stanza

Form
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 stanza constructed using paeonic feet (various combinations of one long and three shorts), common in Greek lyric

Detailed Definition
A paeonic stanza consists of lines built primarily from paeonic feet (a metrical foot with one long and three short syllables, or vice versa, depending on classical or modern usage), creating a lilting, irregular rhythm favored in some experimental 20th-century verse for its musical unpredictability.
Example
Example in poetry:
Paeonic stanza: Uncommon in English, but A.E. Housman’s “When I Was One-and-Twenty” uses irregular stress resembling paeonic variation; classical Latin hymns like those of Horace occasionally employ paeonic stanzas for ceremonial tone; contemporary poet Annie Finch adapts quantitative meters in “Calendars” using paeonic patterns; paeonic stanzas prioritize rhythmic surprise over predictable beat; they often serve ritual or incantatory purposes; modern examples are rare but appear in metrical experimentation.
Additional Notes
Built from paeonic feet (one stressed, three unstressed syllables). Creates flowing, dance-like rhythm distinct from iambic patterns. Study classical Greek meters for historical context and usage.
Also Known As
Paeon stanza Four-syllable foot Greek choral verse One-long-three-short
Skip to main content