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three-long 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 consisting of three long syllables (tribrach in classical prosody when inverted)

Detailed Definition
A classical metrical foot consisting of three long syllables, creating heavy, solemn rhythmic effect. Called a molossus in classical prosody, this foot is rare in English poetry due to natural stress patterns favoring alternation between stressed and unstressed syllables. The triple-long pattern creates weight and dignity when it appears, though sustained use becomes difficult in stress-based English meter.
Example
Example in poetry:
Three-long foot uses three stressed syllables per line: Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse: “Hwæt! We Gardena…” (each half-line has two stresses, but some lines feel triple); Contemporary approximation: “Stone. Sky. Silence.”; In William Carlos Williams: “So much depends / upon” (though not strictly three stresses); Such lines feel stark and declarative; They reject iambic norm for emphasis; Common in minimalist or haiku-inspired verse.
Additional Notes
Classical metrical foot of three long syllables creating weighty, solemn effect. Rare in English due to stress patterns favoring alternation. More common in quantitative languages like Latin.
Also Known As
Molossus Triple-long Tribrach inverted Three-heavy foot Epitritic
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