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Two-measure cretic

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 poetic line containing two cretic feet (long-short-long or stressed-unstressed-stressed)

Detailed Definition
Two-measure cretic is a metrical line containing two cretic feet or measures, each following the long-short-long or stressed-unstressed-stressed pattern. The term "measure" emphasizes the musical quality of metrical units, treating each cretic foot as a rhythmic measure comparable to musical time signatures. This six-syllable line creates a brief, balanced rhythm through two symmetrical units. While among the shortest cretic lines, it remains uncommon in English poetry due to the challenge of maintaining even two consecutive cretic feet naturally within English stress patterns. When employed, two-measure cretic produces compact, formal effects with distinctive wavelike rhythm.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Greek poetry, the cretic (long-short-long) appears in two-measure units; In English, Hopkins’ “sprung rhythm” approximates cretic measures: “Fresh-fire-coal chestnut-falls”; In “The Wreck of the Deutschland,” Hopkins uses two-measure cretic-like phrases: “O the mind, mind has mountains”; Classical Latin hymns like Ambrose’s use two-measure cretics; Contemporary poet Derek Walcott occasionally uses cretic measures in “Omeros” for liturgical effect.
Additional Notes
Two-measure cretic is equivalent to two-foot cretic; reflects historical terminology where “measure” denotes a metrical unit.
Also Known As
Dimetric cretic Two-beat amphimacer Double cretic foot Cretic dimeter
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