Home › Glossary › Letter P

Phallic tetrameter

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 four-foot line rhythmically or symbolically associated with masculine or erect qualities

Detailed Definition
Phallic tetrameter describes a four-beat line with strong, emphatic stresses that convey vigor or authority, sometimes used to critique or embody traditional notions of masculine poetic voice through rhythmic insistence.
Example
Example in poetry:
A line like “MARCH with the MEN in BOLD array” in trochaic tetrameter; Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade”: “Cannon to right of them…” uses upright, martial tetrameter; A ritual chant: “FIRE burns BRIGHT in SACRED night” in strong tetrameter; A line: “KINGS rise and FALL but TRUTH remains” in iambic tetrameter with emphatic stresses.
Additional Notes
Phallic tetrameter refers to strong, marching tetrameter lines evoking masculinity or ritual; common in military or ceremonial verse; interpretive rather than metrical.
Also Known As
Upright tetrameter Vertical four-foot Masculine tetrameter Ithyphallic tetrameter
Skip to main content