spondees

Two-beat metrical units

Spondees are metrical feet consisting of two stressed syllables in a row.

In English poetry, pure spondees are rare because one syllable usually carries more weight than another, but words like heartbreak, football, and bookmark come close.

Poets use spondaic substitution to slow rhythm and add emphasis: The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs.

prosody

meter

Device that measures usage

footLeg's lowest part
stressPressure, mental or vocal
scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns

trochee · iamb · dactyl · anapest · rhythm · verse · syllable · accent · beat · cadence

poetry

Homer

Ancient Greek epic composer

VirgilClassical epic poet
epicImpressively grand in scope
hexameterSix-foot poetic line

caesura · elegiac · Ovid · Horace · ode · Sapphic · verse · Latin · Greek · classical

effect

weight

Measure of heaviness

solemnitySerious, dignified quality
gravityMutual mass attraction
slownessAbsence of quickness

heaviness · emphasis · dignity · deliberate · ponderous · measured · stately · majestic · gravitas · solemn

Opposites

metrical stress pattern

spondeesiambs

Unstressed-stressed metrical units

trochees · dactyls

Family

spondee

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Rated G