Sample Analysis of English Meter, Feet, Scansion

Sample Analysis of English Meter, Feet, Scansion

1. Sample Analysis of English Meter
# Poet Poem Line Scansion Meter
1 William
Shakespeare
“Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?"
Shall I | compare | thee to | a sum|mer's day? U / | U / | U / | U / | U / Iambic Pentameter
2 Emily
Dickinson
"Because I could not
stop for Death"
Because | I could | not stop | for Death U / | U / | U / | U / Iambic Tetrameter
3 Emily
Dickinson
"A Narrow Fellow in the
Grass"
A Nar | row Fel | low in | the Grass U / | U / | U / | U / Iambic Tetrameter
4 Edgar Allan
Poe
"The Raven" Once up | on a |mid night | dreary, / U | / U | / U | / U Trochee Tetrameter
5 William Blake "The Tyger" Tyger |Ty ger, | bur ning | bright / U | / U | / U | U Trochee Trimeter
6 John Milton "Paradise Lost" Of Man's | first dis | obedi | ence and | the fruit U / | U / | U / | U / | U / Iambic Pentameter
7 Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
"To the River Otter" Dear na | tive Brooks | your first | free play U / | U / | U / | U / Iambic Tetrameter
8 James
Stephens
"The Wind" The wind | stood up | and gave | a shout; / U | / U | / U | / U Trochee Tetrameter
9 Clement
Clarke Moore
"A Visit from St.
Nicholas"
'Twas the night |before Christ|mas, when all
|through the house
U U / | U U / | U U / | U U / Anapestic Tetrameter
10 Lord Byron "The Destruction of
Sennacherib"
The As sy|rian came down| like the wolf | on the |
fold
U U / | U U / | U U / | U U / Anapestic Tetrameter
11 Alfred, Lord
Tennyson
"The Charge of the Light
Brigade"
Half a league,| half a league, |half a league
onward,
/ U U | / U U | / U U | U/ Dactylic Trimeter
12 Henry
Wadsworth
Longfellow
"Evangeline" This is the | for est pri | me val, the | mur mur ing |
pines and the | hem locks
/ U U | / U U | / U U | / U U | /
U U / U U
Dactylic Hexameter
13 Robert
Browning
"The Lost Leader" Just for a | hand ful of | sil ver he | left us / U U | / U U | / U U | /U Dactylic Trimeter
14 Christina
Rossetti
"In the Bleak Midwinter" In the | bleak mid | winter U / | U / | U / Iambic Trimeter
15 William
Shakespeare
"Song of the Witches" Double, | dou ble, | toil and | trouble; / U | / U | / U | / U Trochee Tetrameter