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Whole rising dimeter

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 fully realized iambic dimeter line exhibiting rising rhythm and closure

Detailed Definition
Whole rising dimeter is a complete two-foot iambic line (four syllables: ˘ ′ ˘ ′) with no missing or truncated syllables, offering a compact, rhythmic unit often used for refrain, epigram, or stark emphasis; its brevity and metrical integrity make it ideal for moments requiring clarity, finality, or lyrical punch within a larger poetic structure.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Up the / air and / over / the wall” (A.E. Housman, “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff”)—a clear example of whole rising dimeter (two complete iambic feet per line); “The world / is too / much with / us” (William Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much with Us”)—though the full poem is pentameter, this excerpt can be parsed as two rising dimeter units: “The world / is too” and “much with / us”; “Go and / catch a / falling / star” (John Donne, “Song: Go and catch a falling star”)—the opening line breaks into two rising dimeter phrases: “Go and / catch a” and “falling / star”; “Hope is / the thing / with feath-/ers” (Emily Dickinson, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers”)—the first two feet “Hope is / the thing” form a whole rising dimeter segment; “Love bade / me wel-/come: yet / my soul / drew back” (George Herbert, “Love (III)”)—the initial “Love bade / me wel-/come” contains a whole rising dimeter in “Love bade / me wel-”; “Time drives / the flocks / from field / to fold” (Thomas Nashe, “Spring, the Sweet Spring”)—the first half “Time drives / the flocks” exemplifies whole rising dimeter with two complete iambs.
Additional Notes
Whole rising dimeter is a complete two-foot iambic line without truncation. Related to two-foot unit. Provides rhythmic clarity—often used in refrains or for emphatic brevity; scan to confirm both iambs are intact.
Also Known As
Complete rising dimeter Full iambic bimeter Untruncated two-beat line Perfect short iambic Iambic dimeter acatalectic
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