Notes on Meter, Foot, and Rhyme

End Rhyme The rhyming of words at the end of two or more lines of poetry Example: – When you make your poetry rhyme… – You’ll keep your step and be just fine.

Rhyme scheme A pattern of rhyming in a poem; to describe the pattern or scheme, each line is assigned a letter, and lines that rhyme are given the same letter

Foot Is the smallest repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line

Types of Foot Iambic—an unstressed (u) followed by a stressed (/) syllable (u /) Anapestic—two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (u u /) Trochaic—a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable (/ u); opposite of iambic

Types of Foot cont. Dactylic—a stressed followed by two unstressed syllables (/ u u) Spondaic—two stressed syllables (/ /) Pyrrhic—two unstressed syllables (pyrrhic seldom appears by itself) (u u)

Stanza A line or group of lines in a poem separated by other groups of lines by extra space; a division in a poem that occurs at a natural pause or a point where the poet wants to speed up or slow down where the poem, shift its tone, change the setting, introduce a new idea or character

Types of Stanzas Couplet – 2 lines Triplet – 3 lines Quatrain – 4 lines Quintet – 5 lines Sestet – 6 lines Septet – 7 lines Octave – 8 lines

Verse The metric line of poetry; measured in feet Types: – Monometer – 1 foot – Dimeter – 2 feet – Trimeter – 3 feet – Tetrameter – 4 feet – Pentameter – 5 feet – Hexameter – 6 feet – Heptameter – 7 feet – Octometer – 8 feet