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Syllable-stress verse

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

Poetry in which both syllable count and stress pattern determine meter

Detailed Definition
Syllable-stress verse combines fixed syllable counts with regular stress patterns (e.g., iambic pentameter), forming the backbone of much English poetry; it balances quantitative and accentual elements to create predictable yet flexible rhythmic frameworks.
Example
Example in poetry:
Iambic pentameter: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”; Trochaic tetrameter: “Tyger Tyger, burning bright”; Anapestic trimeter: “Twas the night before Christmas”; Dactylic hexameter: “This is the forest primeval” (approximation)
Additional Notes
Syllable-stress verse (accentual-syllabic) counts both syllables and stresses per line—dominant in English since Chaucer; includes iambic pentameter and other regulated meters.
Also Known As
Accentual-syllabic verse stress-syllable meter hybrid prosody quantitative-stress form Syllabic-Accentual Verse
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