Poetic Rhythm and Rhyme

RHYTHM BEAT CADENCE METER

Meter Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables The basic unit of meter is a foot. Most common feet in English poetry: Iamb  / Trochee /  Anapest   / Dactyl /   Spondee / /

 / Iambic  /  /   /  / I asked my mo·ther for fif·ty cents  /  /   /  / I asked my mo·ther for fif·ty cents  /  /  / x /  / To see the el·e·phant jump the fence /  /  /  / He jumped so high, he touched the sky  /  /  /   /   / And he did not come back ‘til the Fourth of Ju·ly

Shakespeare’s SONNET 138 When my love swears that she is made of truth I do believe her though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutor’d youth Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties. Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, Although she knows my days are past the best, Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: On both sides thus is simple truth suppress’d. But wherefore says she not she is unjust? And wherefore say not I that I am old? O, love’s best habit is in seeming trust, And age in love loves not to have years told: Therefore, I lie with her and she with me And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be.

Trochaic /  /  /  /  /  /  /  Pe·ter Pi·per picked a peck of pick·led pep·pers x /  /  /  /  /  /  If Pe·ter Pi·per picked a peck of pick·led pep·pers /  /  /  /  Where’s the peck of pick·led pep·pers  /  /  / (iambic) That Pe·ter Pi·per picked?

The Tyger by William Blake Tyger. Tyger The Tyger by William Blake Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,  In the forests of the night,  What immortal hand or eye  Could frame thy fearful symmetry?  In what distant deeps or skies  Burnt the fire in thine eyes?  On what wings dare he aspire?  What the hand dare seize the fire?  And what shoulder, and what art?  Could twist the sinews of thy heart?  And when thy heart began to beat,  What dread hand, and what dread feet?  What the hammer? What the chain?  In what furnace was thy brain?  What the anvil? What dread grasp  Dare its deadly terrors clasp?  When the stars threw down their spears,  And watered heaven with their tears,  Did he smile his work to see?  Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?  Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,  In the forests of the night,  What immortal hand or eye  Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Anapestic   / Edward Lear There was an old man in a tree  /   /   / There was an old man in a tree  /   /   / Who was hor·rib·ly bored by a bee   /   / When they said, "Does it buzz?“   /   / He re·plied, "Yes, it does!   /   /   / It's a reg·u·lar brute of a bee!" Edward Lear

/   Dactylic (po·e·try) /   /   /   /   /   /   This is the forest prim·eval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, /   /   /   /   Picture your self in a boat on a river with /   /   /   /   tangerine tree-ees and marmalade skii-ii-es. dactylic hexameter: Longfellow, Evangeline Dactylic tetrameter ¾ time: The Beatles, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds “

Spondaic / / Rarely an entire line of poetry / / /   / See Saw, Margery Daw / / / / I scream. You scream. /  /  /  We all scream for ice cream From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells -  From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. -- E.A. Poe

Metrical Lines One foot monometer Two feet dimeter Three feet trimeter Four feet tetrameter Five feet pentameter (iambic pentameter) Six feet hexameter (dactylic hexameter) Seven feet heptameter Eight feet octameter

Stanzas 2 line stanzas: couplets 3 line stanzas: tercets triplets: aaa bbb ccc ddd terza rima: aba bcb cdc ded 4 line stanzas: quatrains 5 line stanzas: quintets 6 line stanzas: sestets 7 line stanzas: septets 8 line stanzas: octaves

Rhyme Scheme The ends of lines repeat the same sounds. Mary had a little jam, she spread it on a waffle. And if she hadn't eaten ten she wouldn't feel so _____. A B C B The snow came down And covered the town The snow came down last night The snow came down And covered the town And left it snowy _____. A A B A A B

Shakespeare’s SONNET 138 When my love swears that she is made of truth a I do believe her though I know she lies, b That she might think me some untutor’d youth a Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties. b Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, c Although she knows my days are past the best, d Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: c On both sides thus is simple truth suppress’d. d But wherefore says she not she is unjust? e And wherefore say not I that I am old? f O, love’s best habit is in seeming trust, e And age in love loves not to have years told: f Therefore, I lie with her and she with me g And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be. g

Kinds of Rhyme Exact: eye/sky/pie; sing/ding/ring Near or Half: sing/dung/rang Eye: tough/through/dough Internal: "Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December" / / Masculine: rang/sang /  /  Feminine: ringing/singing

Rhyme Patterns Onomatopoeia – words that sound like what they represent Buzz Hiss Roar Woof Tick-tock Alliteration –repetition of sounds Initial: The wild and woolly walrus waits and wonders when we’ll walk by. Internal: baobab; purple potpourri Final: “Knox in box. Fox in socks. Knox on fox in socks in box. “ – Dr. Suess Assonance – same vowel sounds Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese Three free throws. Repeated words …and Sky was chasing chasing chasing with his feet going every which way and his tail wag-wag-wagging

BELLS by Edgar Allen Poe I. Hear the sledges with the bells -  Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells -  From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.