spondaic
Two long beats
Spondaic describes verse or rhythm composed of spondees—metrical feet with two stressed syllables in succession.
English poetry favors iambs and trochees, so purely spondaic lines are rare, but spondees appear for emphasis or weight: Dead stop. Stone cold.
The term belongs to prosody and classical meter analysis.
Six-foot poetic line
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
- verseMetered poetic passage
- epicImpressively grand in scope
- HomerAncient Greek epic composer
Virgil · Iliad · Aeneid · Odyssey · dactylic · blank verse · Ovid · Horace
Stressed-then-unstressed foot
- iambTwo-syllable metrical foot
- dactylFinger, toe, or verse foot
- anapestTrisyllabic metrical foot
- pyrrhicWon at excessive cost
metrical foot · scansion · prosody · quantitative verse · stressed syllables · poetic meter · duration
Serious and worrying
deliberate · stately · dignified · ponderous · measured · emphatic · serious · sonorous
Stress placed on syllables
- emphasisStress given to something
- beatRhythmic pulse or strike
- downbeatNegatively toned or dispirited
- syllable stressEmphasis on word segments
hexameter
Six-foot poetic line
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
- verseMetered poetic passage
- epicImpressively grand in scope
Homer · Virgil · Iliad · Aeneid · Odyssey · dactylic · blank verse · Ovid · Horace · Sapphic
trochee
Stressed-then-unstressed foot
pyrrhic · metrical foot · scansion · prosody · quantitative verse · stressed syllables · poetic meter · duration
grave
Serious and worrying
heavy · deliberate · stately · dignified · ponderous · measured · emphatic · serious · sonorous · majestic
accentuation
Stress placed on syllables
syllable stress · accented · pronunciation · articulation · intonation