Meter Prose – words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters Poetry – syllables, feet, lines, stanzas, cantos Without the division of lines – no poem, without the meter – no music
Meter Rhythm – pulse or beat we feel in a phrase of music or a poem. Sense of rhythm comes from everyday life and experiences with language and music Meter – poetry’s rhythm or its pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Poetic foot – is a measured unit of meter, made up of stressed and unstressed syllables
Lexical stress – dictionary stress Rhetorical stress – stress placed on a word for effect Metrical stress – expectation drives the stress, meter gets established Whose woods/ these are/ I think / I know
Type of metric foot accent/stress example Iambic/ iamb / today, balloon Trochaic/ trochee / happy, soda Anapestic/ anapest / obvious, contradict Dactyllic/dactyl / cigarette, maniac Spondaic/spondee / / Downtown, manmade Pyrrhic of the
Da dum DA dum (FORest) = Trochee DA DUM (RED CAT) = Spondee da da DUM (like a WOLF) = Anapest DA da DUM (CUT the FLESH) = Dactyl da dum (and the) (-ing the) = Pyrrhic
meter Duple – two syllable feet - - -IT Triple – three syllable feet - - AD Rising feet/ascending feet– iamb, anapest - - vowels Falling/descending feet – trochee, dactyl consonants Substitute feet – spondee, pyrrhic Amphibrach – a foot with unstressed, stressed, unstressed syllables / Chicago Anacrusis – an extra unaccented syllable at the beginning of a line before the regular meter begins Mine by the right of the white election
Number of metric feet Type of Line One footmonometer Two feetdimeter Three feettrimeter Four feettetrameter Five feetpentameter Six feethexameter Seven feetheptameter Eight feetoctometer Nine feetnonometer
meter Amphimacer – a foot with stressed, unstressed, stressed syllables / / attitude Catalexis – an extra unaccented syllable at the ending of a line after the regular meter ends (opposite of anacrusis)
Scansion – the analysis of these mechanical elements within a poem to determine meter. Feet are marked off with slashes / Bĕca ǘ se/ Ĭ co ǘ ld / nŏt stóp/ fŏr deáth
Can you figure out the number and type of feet? Iambic pentameter_____________ Dactylic Trimeter _____________ Anapestic dimeter ______________ Spondaic monometer ______________ Trochaic tetrameter ______________
Examples iambic pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables) That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables) Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers anapestic trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables) And the sound | of a voice | that is still dactylic hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; a trochee replaces the last dactyl) This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the | hemlocks
Mixed Meter There WAS..|..a TIME..|..when MEAD..|..ow, GROVE,..|..and STREAM, Iambic Pentameter The EARTH,..|..and EV..|..ry COM..|..mon SIGHT, Iambic Tetrameter To ME..|..did SEEM Iambic Dimeter Ap PAR..|..elled IN..|..cel EST..|..ial LIGHT, Iambic Tetrameter The GLOR..|..y AND..|..the FRESH..|..ness OF..|..a DREAM. Iambic Pentameter It IS..|..not NOW..|..as IT..|..hath BEEN..|..of YORE; Iambic Pentameter Turn WHERE..|..so E'ER..|..I MAY, Iambic Trimeter By NIGHT..|..or DAY, Iambic Dimeter The THINGS..|..which I..|..have SEEN..|..I NOW..|..can SEE..|..no MORE. Iambic Hexameter
Anapestic Tetrameter From "The Destruction of Sennacherib," by George Gordon Lord Byron The As SYR..|..ian came DOWN..|..like the WOLF..|..on the FOLD, And his CO..|..horts were GLEAM..|..ing in PUR..|..ple and GOLD; And the SHEEN..|..of their SPEARS..|..was like STARS..|..on the SEA
Trochaic Tetrameter From "The Tyger," by William Blake TY ger..|..TY ger..|..BURN ning..|..BRIGHT IN the..|..FOR..ests..|..OF the..|..NIGHT
Stanzas Metric feet make up lines, which make up stanzas Number of lines Type of Stanza Two couplet Three tercet Four quatrain Five cinquain Six sestet Seven septet Eight octet/ octave Ninex-line stanza