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short iambic four

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 shortened iambic tetrameter line, typically omitting one or more unstressed syllables for rhythmic variation.

Detailed Definition
Short iambic four refers to a tetrameter line (four iambic feet: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM) used in lyrical or narrative poetry for its balanced, songlike quality; common in ballads and hymns, it offers rhythmic stability without the gravitas of pentameter.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day” (Gray’s “Elegy”) uses short iambic four (tetrameter); “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (Wordsworth) is short iambic four; “Because I could not stop for Death” (Dickinson) alternates iambic tetrameter and trimeter; “The world is too much with us” (Wordsworth) opens in short iambic four
Additional Notes
short iambic four: An iambic line (u−, unstressed followed by stressed) that contains four feet (tetrameter) but is slightly reduced in syllable count or weight; a common meter for folk songs and ballads.
Also Known As
Short iambic tetrameter clipped four-foot iambic brief iambic four Catalectic iambic tetrameter
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