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Ten-syllable line

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 line of verse composed of ten syllables, often used in sonnets and blank verse

Detailed Definition
A ten-syllable line is a verse line containing exactly ten syllables, commonly used in iambic pentameter but also appearing in syllabic or free verse contexts; while often associated with Shakespearean drama and formal poetry, it can be employed flexibly to create rhythmic regularity or conversational flow, as in the measured cadences of blank verse or the controlled neutrality of syllabic modernism.
Example
Example in poetry:
A ten-syllable line often follows iambic pentameter: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare); “The curfew tolls the knell of parting day” (Gray); “To be, or not to be, that is the question” (Shakespeare); “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (Wordsworth—10 syllables).
Additional Notes
Ten-syllable line|A common line length in English verse, most famously the iambic pentameter; it usually has five feet, but is ten syllables only if it is entirely regular.
Also Known As
Decasyllabic line Ten-foot line Ten-syllable verse 10-syllable verse Decasyllable Iambic pentameter
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