1. meter in poetry and verse.pdf

poetry

1. The Rhythm off
Poetry:
Meter in Poetry and Verse
Syllable -Poetic feet -Meter

2. Syllables
English words have clear syllables.
We can usually divide words into syllables easily.
We can also determine which syllables to emphasize, or
“stress” in each word.
For example:
Angel = AN-gel
Complete = com-PLETE

3. More Syllables
poem = PO-em…….(1 stressed + 1 unstressed)
• poetry = PO-e-try…….(1 stressed + 2 unstressed)
• relief = re-LIEF……. (1 unstressed + 1 stressed)
• recommend = re-com-MEND……. (2 unstressed + 1 stressed)
• discomfort = dis-COM-fort… (1 unstressed + 1 stressed + 1
unstressed)
• entertainment = en-ter-TAIN-ment(2 unstressed + 1 stressed +
1 unstressed)

4. Scansion
• (1) the act of scanning, or analyzing poetry in terms of its
rhythmic components
• (2) the graphic representation, indicated by marked
accents, feet, etc.,
of the rhythm of a line or lines of verse
–You may have seen scansion marks like the following:

5. The curved lines are “unstressed” syllables while the
straight slashes are “stressed”

6. Poetic Meter
•
• Meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
in a poem. It is the rhythm within a poem.

7. Types of Meters
A poetic foot is a repeated sequence of
rhythm comprised of two or more stressed
and/or unstressed syllables.
Poetic meter is comprised of poetic feet
Iamb –A foot that has unstressed syllable
followed by stressed syllable.

8. Types of Feet
Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + StressedTwo Syllables
Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + UnstressedTwo Syllables
Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed Two Syllables
Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed +
Unstressed + Stressed
Three Syllables
Dactyl (Dactylic) Stressed + Unstressed +
Unstressed
Three Syllables

9. Special Names
The followings are names of meter & line length
Monometer One foot
Dimeter Two feet
Trimeter Threefeet
Tetrameter Four feet
Pentameter Five feet
Hexameter Sixfeet
Heptameter Seven feet
Octameter Eight feet

10. Iambic pattern
1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable
EXAMPLES:
–repose (re-POSE)
–belief (be-LIEF)
–complete (com-PLETE)

11. Trochaic Pattern
1 stressed syllable followed by 1 unstressed syllable
EXAMPLES:
garland (GAR-land)
speaking (SPEAK-ing)
value (VAL-ue)

12. Anapestic pattern
2 unstressed syllables followed by 1
stressed syllable
EXAMPLES:
on the road
interrupt (in-ter-RUPT)
unabridged, contradict, engineer,
masquerade, Galilee

13. Dactylic pattern
• 1 stressed syllable followed by 2 unstressed syllables
• EXAMPLE:
–happiness (HAP-pi-ness)
–galloping (GAL-lop-ing)
–fortunate, Saturday, daffodil, murmuring,
rhapsody

14. Spondaic Pattern
• All syllables have equal stress
• EXAMPLE:
–Heartbreak
–“Out, out…”
–"pen-knife," "ad hoc," "heartburn"

15. The Iambic foot
• The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable) is the
most common poetic foot in English verse.
• iambic foot examples:
–behold
–destroy
–the sun(articles such as “the” would be considered unstressed syllables)
–and watch(conjunctions such as and would be considered unstressed
syllables)

16. Lines containing iambic feet
Behold / and watch / the sun / destroy / and grow (5 iambs)
When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME
[Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12] (5 iambs)\
• Shall I / compare /thee to / a sum / mer'sday?
[Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12] (5 iambs)
• Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love (4 iambs)
(poem by Christopher Marlowe)

17. Trochaic poem: a stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed one
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's “The Song of Hiawatha”
By the / shores of / Gitche/ Gumee,
By the / shining / Big-Sea /-Water,
Stood the / wigwam / of No / komis,
Daughter / of the / Moon, No / komis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before' it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

18. Anapestic poetry: 2 unstressed syllables + 1 stressed
one Limericks contain anapestic meter (in blue)
Limerick by Edward Lear:
There was / an Old Man / with a beard,
Who said, "It is just / as I feared!
Two Owls / and a Hen,
Four Larks / and a Wren,
Have all / built their nests / in my beard!"

19. Dactylic poem: 1 stressed + 2 unstressed
Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Halfa league, / half a league,
Halfa league / onward,
Allin the / valley of / Death
Rode the / six hundred.
"Forward, the / Light Brigade!
Charge for the / guns!" he said:
Into the / valley of / Death
Rode the / six hundred.

20. Spondaic Poem: 2 equal syllables
Because of this nature of the spondee, a serious poem
cannot be solely spondaic.
• It would be almost impossible to construct a poem entirely
of stressed syllables.
• Therefore, the spondee usually occurs within a poem
having another dominant rhythm scheme.

21. Combinations of Poetic Feet

23. Meters & Feet
•Q: If a poem had 1 foot per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A: Iambic monometer

24. Meters & Feet
•Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A: Iambic trimeter

25. Meters & Feet
•Q: If a poem had 2 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A: Iambic dimeter

26. Meters & Feet
•Q: If a poem had 4 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A: Iambic tetrameter

27. Meters & Feet
•Q: If a poem had 5 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A: Iambic pentameter

28. Meters & Feet
•Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line, and
the foot was trochaic (1 stressed +1
unstressed), what type of poem would it be?
•A: Trochaic tetrameter

29. Go ahead…
experiment with different metric styles in your own
poetry!
End of presentation.

30. Thank you