# Amphibrachic tetrameter checker

Shape a draft against twelve-syllable amphibrachic lines (da-DUM-da × 4). Same syllable and stress engine as the lyriic poetry editor — private in your browser.

## A short history

An amphibrach is a three-syllable foot with the stress in the middle (da-DUM-da). Amphibrachic tetrameter repeats that foot four times: twelve syllables with strong beats on positions 2, 5, 8, and 11. The rocking contour is less common as a named English meter than iambs or anapests, but it turns up in song, comic verse, children’s poetry, and some narrative lyrics.

Victorian and later English poets used it for storytelling lines — Samuel Woodworth’s “The Old Oaken Bucket” is a familiar classroom example — and limericks are often scanned with amphibrachic (or anapestic) feet. In song, Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” opens with clear amphibrachic tetrameter; Dr. Seuss also leans on the same rocking twelve-beat line. Polish verse has a stronger amphibrachic tradition (Staff, Mickiewicz, and others), usually with feminine endings.

## Famous poems

### Famous Blue Raincoat — Leonard Cohen

It's four in the morning, the end of December

Opening lines scan cleanly as amphibrachic tetrameter; later lines loosen for speech and song.

### The Old Oaken Bucket — Samuel Woodworth

How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood

Early nineteenth-century narrative lyric often cited for English amphibrachic tetrameter.

### If I Ran the Circus — Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)

All ready to put up the tents for my circus

Children’s verse that often rides a twelve-syllable amphibrachic swing.

### Regeneration — John Beaton

Hay ripens. I sharpen my tapering scythe blade

Contemporary formal poem built on amphibrachic tetrameter with mixed masculine and feminine endings.

## How amphibrachic tetrameter works

English amphibrachic tetrameter is four amphibrachs per line: twelve syllables with expected stress on positions 2, 5, 8, and 11 (da-DUM-da da-DUM-da da-DUM-da da-DUM-da). lyriic’s catalog uses that single-line cycle with no fixed stanza length.

The amphibrach (light–strong–light) gives a rocking, song-like swing. Poets often mix in anapests, truncate the final weak syllable, or bend stress for natural speech; those variants will diverge from this pure twelve-beat grid.

Related forms include limericks (sometimes scanned amphibrachically) and anapestic tetrameter, which ends each foot on a stress instead of rocking through the middle. Those are separate meters in lyriic; here every line targets twelve amphibrachic syllables.

## Amphibrach (da-DUM-da)

An amphibrach is a three-syllable foot with a light–strong–light contour: da-DUM-da. Words such as “together,” “remember,” and “amazing” often sit in that rocking shape.

It is less common as a named English meter than iambs or anapests, but amphibrachic lines turn up in song, limericks (under some scansions), and comic verse. Four amphibrachs make a twelve-syllable tetrameter line.

When stress checking is enabled, lyriic marks the expected weak–strong–weak cycle from dictionary stress so you can hear the rocking pattern against your draft.

## Amphibrachic 4-foot contour

Amphibrachic tetrameter expects four da-DUM-da feet: twelve syllables with strong beats on positions 2, 5, 8, and 11 (weak–strong–weak, repeated).

lyriic checks this contour when the stress pack is loaded, comparing dictionary stress to that rocking grid alongside the twelve-syllable target.

## Notes on this form

lyriic checks a twelve-syllable line with an amphibrachic (weak–strong–weak) stress contour. English poets commonly substitute feet, drop a final weak syllable (masculine ending), or loosen stress for speech — those will show as mismatches against the ideal grid.

Limericks and some comic verse are often scanned as amphibrachic or anapestic; lyriic’s limerick meter is a separate form. This checker does not enforce rhyme schemes, stanza shapes, or song-line phrasing.

## Common questions

### What is amphibrachic tetrameter?

In English, a line of four amphibrachs: twelve syllables with a light–strong–light foot repeated four times (da-DUM-da × 4). Expected stresses fall on syllables 2, 5, 8, and 11.

### Does lyriic check stress as well as syllables?

Yes. For Amphibrachic tetrameter, lyriic targets twelve syllables and the amphibrachic weak–strong–weak contour when the stress pack is loaded. Open the zen editor with this meter for live rulers beside each line.

### Is my draft uploaded?

No. Syllable and stress checks run locally in your browser. lyriic is local-first and does not require an account.

## Open the editor

Write in the zen editor: https://lyriic.com/

Open with Amphibrachic tetrameter meter: https://lyriic.com/write/amphibrachic-tetrameter