Poetic Meter The Rythym of Language

meter the rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse. stressed= loud ( / ) unstressed= soft ( U )

foot The basic unit of measurement of meter. A foot usually contains one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable. The standard types of feet in English poetry are the iamb ( U / ), trochee ( / U ), dactyl ( / U U ), anapest ( U U / ), spondee ( / /), and pyrrhic ( U U )

iamb ( U / ) A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. The words “unite” and “provide” are both iambic. It is the most common meter of poetry in English. U / U / U / U / U / Essence of winter sleep is on the night, U / U / U / U / U / The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.

trochee ( / U ) A metric foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable. Examples of trochaic words include “garden” and “highway.” / U / U / / / U / U / U / U / Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary

dactyl ( / U U ) A metrical foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables; the words “poetry” and “basketball” are both dactylic. / U U / U U Cannon to right of them, / U U / U U Cannon to left of them,

anapest ( U U / ) consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable. The words “underfoot” and “overcome” are anapestic. U U / U U / U U / U U / Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green

spondee ( / / ) A metric foot consisting of two accented syllables. Some examples of spondaic words are “hog-wild,” “car door,” and “Big Mac.” U / / / / U / / With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; / U / / U / / U / / He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: / /                           Praise him.

“To a green thought in a green shade.” pyrrhic ( U U ) Two unstressed syllables “To a green thought in a green shade.”

dimeter- a line of verse composed of two feet. Even out Earth’s                rondure, flatten                Eiger, blanden                the Grand Canyon.                Make valleys                slightly higher,                widen fissures                to arable land,                remand your                terrible glaciers

trimeter- a line of three metrical feet. Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!                 Bird thou never wert,

tetrameter- a line made up of four feet. That night your great guns, unawares, Shook all our coffins as we lay, And broke the chancel window-squares, We thought it was the Judgment-day

pentameter- a line made up of five feet. It is the most common metrical line in English. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.    I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.    I learn by going where I have to go.

blank verse- unrhyming iambic pentameter, also called heroic verse. This 10-syllable line is the predominant rhythm of traditional English dramatic and epic poetry, as it is considered the closest to English speech patterns. Poem’s like John Milton’s Paradise Lost is written in blank verse. Halted against the shade of a last hill, They fed, and, lying easy, were at ease

To review dimeter- 2 trimeter- 3 tetrameter- 4 pentameter- 5 hexameter- 6 heptameter- 7

Now, identify the meter! Now I have tempered haste, The joyous traveller said,    The steed has passed me now    Whose hurrying hooves I fled.   -from “The Mount” by Léonie Adams

What do we think? / / U / U / Now I have tempered haste, U / U / U / The joyous traveller said,    U / U / U / The steed has passed me now    U / U / U / Whose hurrying hooves I fled.  

iambic trimeter / / U / U / Now I have tempered haste, U / U / U / The joyous traveller said,    U / U / U / The steed has passed me now    U / U / U / Whose hurrying hooves I fled.

A few more! Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove -from Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116”

Hmm… tricky / U / / U / U U / / Let me not to the marriage of true minds U / U / U / / U / / Admit impediments. Love is not love U / U / U / U / U / Which alters when it alteration finds, U / U / U / U / U / Or bends with the remover to remove

iambic pentameter / U / / U / U U / / Let me not to the marriage of true minds U / U / U / / U / / Admit impediments. Love is not love U / U / U / U / U / Which alters when it alteration finds, U / U / U / U / U / Or bends with the remover to remove

Two More! Some go local Some go express Some can’t wait To answer Yes -from “Yes” by Muriel Rukeyser

What thinkest thou? U / U / Some go local U / U / Some go express Some can’t wait / U / U To answer Yes

Last one! In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man    Down to a sunless sea. -from “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1797)

U / U / U / U / In Xanadu did Kubla Khan U / U / U / / / A stately pleasure-dome decree: U / U / U / U / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran U / U / U / U / Through caverns measureless to man / U U / U /     Down to a sunless sea.

iambic tetrameter U / U / U / U / In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: U / U / U / U / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran U / U / U / U / Through caverns measureless to man / U U / U /     Down to a sunless sea.