For other uses, see Spondee (disambiguation).
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Metrical feet
Disyllables
˘ ˘ pyrrhus, dibrach
˘ ¯ iamb
¯ ˘ trochee, choree
¯ ¯ spondee
Trisyllables
˘ ˘ ˘ tribrach
¯ ˘ ˘ dactyl
˘ ¯ ˘ amphibrach
˘ ˘ ¯ anapaest, antidactylus
˘ ¯ ¯ bacchius
¯ ¯ ˘ antibacchius
¯ ˘ ¯ cretic, amphimacer
¯ ¯ ¯ molossus
See main article for tetrasyllables.

In poetry, a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables, as determined by syllable weight in classical meters, or two stressed syllables, as determined by stress in modern meters. This makes it unique in English verse as all other feet (excepting molossus, which has three stressed syllables, and dispondee, which has four stressed syllables) contain at least one unstressed syllable. The word comes from the Greek σπονδή, spondē, "libation".

It is unrealistic to construct a whole, serious poem with spondees, except in languages like Chinese - consequently, spondees mainly occur as variants within an anapaestic structure. The spondee is a very important poetic device that poets can use to emphasize meaning within their writing style.

For example (from G. K. Chesterton, "Lepanto"):

White founts falling in the courts of the sun
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;

The following is a possible analysis, and shows the role of the spondee.

  1. The basic template for both lines is anapaestic tetrameter: four feet, each consisting of two short syllables then a long syllable (duh-duh-DAH, duh-duh-DAH, duh-duh-DAH, duh-duh-DAH). It is then heavily modified:
  2. The second, third and fourth feet in the second line each have three instead of two short syllables (duh-duh-duh-DAH).
  3. The first anapaest in the first line is replaced with a spondee ("White founts," DAH-DAH)
  4. The second anapaest in the first line is replaced with a trochee (DAH-duh).

A simpler version of the first line might be:

There are white fountains falling in the courts of the sun .

Two short syllables are added at the beginning, and "founts" is lengthened to "fountains." These extra syllables add "filler," so that when the poem is read stress no longer naturally falls on the syllable "fount" (or, does so to a lesser degree). As a result there are unstressed syllables just before the "fall," so that naturally becomes an anapaest ("fountains fall-," duh-duh-DAH), and the "ing" slips into the following anapaest. Chesterton's version changes all this; it is less intuitive to write and has a more unusual sound. The spondee effects this.

Tennyson often made use of spondaic and pyrrhic substitutions in his work. Here are some examples:

This is my son, mine own Telemachus
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
-from "Ulysses"

Spondees above are "Well-loved," "slow pru-," and "make mild."

Be near me when my light is low,
When the blood creeps and the nerves prick
And tingle; and the heart is sick,
And all the wheels of Being slow.
-from "In Memoriam"

There are two spondees in this excerpt: "blood creeps," and "nerves prick."

Another example of a poem using spondee is Gerard Manley Hopkins' Pied Beauty. He marks the 6th line in this way to indicate the spondee: "And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim." The poem also ends with the short spondee line "Praise Him."

See also [link]


https://wn.com/Spondee

Spondee (song)

"Spondee" is a piece composed by intelligent dance music (IDM) duo Matmos. It is the third track on their 2001 album A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure. The piece revolves around audio samples from a hearing test: a woman's voice recites two-syllable words, stressing both syllables. Audiologist Rebecca Highlander, CCC-A, reads a list of phonetically balanced words (spondees, with equal stress on the first and second syllable). Recorded in the hearing test booth at the Jean Weingarden Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf, beeps and tones were generated during the response curve testing of hearing aids.

References


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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Spondee_(song)

Spondee (grammar)

In grammar, a spondee is a two-syllable word in which there is equal emphasis placed on both syllables.


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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Spondee_(grammar)

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Torn

by: Seabound

I pose in foam
Attracting no one
I'm on my own
I'm torn
Forming extinct species
Just like my own
Naked to the bone
I'm torn
As white turns black I know
It's light these pictures lack
A tree of life that has no leaves
I'm feeling grief beyond belief
As white turns black I know
It's light these pictures lack
A tree of life that has no leaves
I'm feeling grief beyond belief
I smile at wine and downers
A blade, the phone
I'll quit this all time low
I've sworn
My legs shape Vs and Ss
Amid the storm
From this sea of red
I'm born
Or torn?
Or am I?
As white turns black I know
It's light these pictures lack
A tree of life that has no leaves
I'm feeling grief beyond belief
As white turns black I know
It's light these pictures lack
A tree of life that has no leaves
I'm feeling grief beyond belief




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