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Pyrrhic tetrameter

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 line of four pyrrhic feet (each two unstressed syllables: u u)

Detailed Definition
Pyrrhic tetrameter is a four-foot line composed entirely or predominantly of pyrrhic feet (two unstressed syllables: u u), creating a light, rapid, or breathless rhythm; though rare as a sustained meter, it appears fleetingly to contrast with heavier stresses or convey agitation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pyrrhic tetrameter (four pyrrhic feet: unstressed-unstressed) rarely appears alone but functions within mixed meter; In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” pyrrhic tetrameter may surface in lines like “To be, or not to be, that is the question” where “or not” forms a pyrrhic; In Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” pyrrhic substitutions create rhythmic variation within iambic pentameter; In Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” pyrrhic tetrameter appears in “Into the valley of Death” where “of Death” may scan as pyrrhic in context
Additional Notes
Pyrrhic tetrameter features four pyrrhic feet (two unstressed syllables each: uu uu uu uu), extremely rare in English; usually appears fleetingly within lines to create rhythmic contrast.
Also Known As
Light-footed tetrameter Unstressed tetrameter Diminished meter Double-short four-foot Four-foot pyrrhic
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