Home › Glossary › Letter W

Wine-song hexameter

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 hexameter line adapted for convivial or bacchic themes, often lighter in tone and rhythm than epic or solemn hexameters.

Detailed Definition
Wine-song hexameter adapts the classical six-foot line—typically dactylic—for festive or bacchic verse, blending epic grandeur with tipsy exuberance; though rare in English, it evokes ancient symposia where wine and poetry flowed together in measured, rolling cadences.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Wine, divine gift of the sun-drenched vine, flows through mortal veins” (hexameter mimicking classical epic); “From the crushed grape comes joy, from joy comes song, from song comes light” (dactylic hexameter rhythm); “Bacchus rides the storm with goblet high, laughing at the thunder” (mythic hexameter); “The vine climbs the trellis, heavy with promise of tomorrow’s feast” (descriptive hexameter)
Additional Notes
Wine-song hexameter: A six-foot metrical line, often dactylic, used in poetry (sometimes for a lighter, more celebratory tone) related to wine or drinking, contrasting with the serious use of dactylic hexameter in epic poetry.
Also Known As
Wine hexameter Bacchic hexameter Drinking-song hexameter Anacreontic hexameter
Skip to main content