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Spondaic foot

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 metrical foot of two stressed syllables (– –), used sparingly to add weight, solemnity, or disruption to iambic flow.

Detailed Definition
A spondaic foot consists of two stressed syllables (/ /), creating a heavy, emphatic beat often used for dramatic emphasis, solemnity, or to disrupt regular meter; though rarely sustained, it appears strategically in English verse to convey weight, urgency, or cataclysmic force.
Example
Example in poetry:
Spondaic foot (stressed-stressed) appears in Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade”: “Cannon to right of them”; In Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” spondaic foot emphasizes doom: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”; In Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “The Windhover,” spondaic foot intensifies praise: “Brute beauty and valour and act”; In John Milton’s “Samson Agonistes,” spondaic foot conveys physical struggle: “Eyeless in Gaza”
Additional Notes
A spondaic foot consists of two stressed syllables (––), used sparingly in English to add weight or abruptness; common in phrases like “heartbreak” or “true love” within iambic lines.
Also Known As
Double stress Heavy beat Emphatic measure double-accent foot Spondee substitution
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