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Rocking hexameter

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 hexameter line structured with alternating short-long-short syllabic patterns (cretic meter), yielding a lilting, wave-like cadence.

Detailed Definition
Rocking hexameter is a six-foot line that alternates between iambic and trochaic measures or incorporates spondees and pyrrhics to create a swaying, undulating rhythm; though rare in English, it mimics the ebb and flow of classical hexameter while introducing a distinctly English prosodic flexibility for lyrical or narrative effect.
Example
Example in poetry:
A line of six metrical feet (hexameter) where the dominant foot is the trochee (′∪) or dactyl (′∪∪); most commonly, dactylic hexameter.; The meter of the classical Greek and Latin epics (Homer, Virgil), which uses a sequence of dactyls and spondees, creating a powerful, swaying rhythm.; A long line of six feet where the rhythm emphasizes the falling (stressed-to-unstressed) pattern, giving it a heavy, deliberate, 'rocking' sound.; The use of a series of trochaic feet in a six-foot line, giving it a lumbering, repetitive stress pattern: "Tell us a story, tell us a story, tell us a story, oh."
Additional Notes
Rocking hexameter is a line of six metrical feet, where the predominant foot is the rocking foot or amphibrach (U D U); an uncommon metrical line.
Also Known As
Rocking six-foot line swaying hexameter lilting hexameter Amphibrachic hexameter
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