Home › Glossary › Letter S

Short-long-short hexameter

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 hexameter line built from cretic feet (– ˘ –), producing a short-long-short rhythmic pattern used in classical and experimental verse.

Detailed Definition
Short-long-short hexameter is a six-foot line in which each foot follows the amphibrachic pattern (unstressed-stressed-unstressed); while rare in English due to its length and rhythmic complexity, it can produce a flowing, lyrical cadence reminiscent of certain Slavic or Germanic prosodic traditions, often used for elevated or incantatory effects.
Example
Example in poetry:
An experimental hexameter: "A whisper through the willows, soft and low and clear"; "Beneath the stars he wandered, lost in dreams and fear"; Classical models rarely use pure short-long-short hexameter, but modern poets adapt it for lyrical flow; "The ocean sang a lullaby of sorrow, hope, and cheer" mimics the rhythm
Additional Notes
A less common hexameter often seen in classical Greek or Latin; the "short-long-short" pattern suggests a dactylic or anapestic structure, typically referring to a Dactyl (–∪∪) in quantitative verse, though the term Dactyl is long-short-short (-∪∪). This ID likely refers to a Choriamb (-∪∪-) in one common scansion or Amphibrach (∪-∪) if 'long' means 'stressed' and 'short' means 'unstressed' in accentual verse.
Also Known As
clipped six-foot choriamb reduced hexameter Amphibrachic hexameter
Skip to main content