Home › Glossary › Letter S

Spectral measure

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 metrical pattern that haunts or echoes beneath the surface rhythm

Detailed Definition
An underlying metrical pattern implied or suggested beneath poem's surface rhythm but not fully realized or explicit, creating ghostly prosodic presence. Spectral measures can haunt free verse with suggestions of regular meter, or create counterpoint between expected and actual rhythms in formal verse, adding complexity to prosodic experience by making readers sense rhythms that hover just beyond full manifestation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Verse built on ghostly meter imitating spectral sways; Poe’s dimeter evoking footsteps in mist; Frost’s irregular ghostly beat in “The Witch of Coös”; Meter with airy stresses to conjure haunting; Plath’s cadence that feels apparition-like
Additional Notes
Underlying metrical pattern implied but not fully realized. Creates ghostly rhythmic presence. Related to counterpoint rhythm. Adds complexity to prosody.
Also Known As
Ghost meter Absent rhythm Implied prosody Shadow beat Eidolon Line
Skip to main content