1. A “foot” in poetry is simply a beat within a line of verse. POETRY What you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask… Foot “Meter” is the rhythmic pattern of verse. Meter Scansion This is the literal analysis of poetry, linking it to the possible figurative meanings in verse.

2. There are four standard feet in verse: Iambic foot (Iamb) An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable: de|STROY Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable; it gives the sense of a galloping rhythm: in|ter|VENE Anapestic foot (Anapest)

3. A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable: TOP|sy A stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables; not as common: MER|ri|ly Trochaic foot (Trochee) Dactylic foot (Dactyl)

4. Of course, there are other irregular metrical feet, one of which is: Two stressed syllables in a row; verse is generally not written using spondees: Spondaic foot (Spondee) TOM|TOM A|MEN

5. Here are the types of metrical feet with examples: Adam Had’em monometer– one foot per line Okay, each line in the above poem has two syllables; I look at the first and second lines and see that the first syllable of each line is stressed and the second syllable is unstressed (trochaic). I can conclude that this poem is written in trochaic monometer AD|am HAD|’em

6. A line with two feet in it dimeter This stanza is written in trochaic dimeter. A line with three feet in it I love the jocund dance, The softly breathing song. trimeter Up the mountain, Down the valley, Steadily the Train chugs onward. These two lines are written in iambic trimeter. UP the | MOUNtain, DOWN the | VALLey, STEADi | LY the TRAIN chugs | ONward. I LOVE | the JOC|und DANCE, The SOFTl|y BREATH|ing SONG.

7. And DID | those FEET | in ANC|ient TIME Walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England's pleasant pastures seen? From the introduction to “Milton” by William Blake tetrameter Line with four feet in it iambic tetrameter Line with five feet in it pentameter This was the noblest Roman of them all iambic pentameter – if you didn’t get that, wet noodle treatment!

8. Line with six feet. hexameter To THINK|how THEY|may ACHE|in I|cy HOODS|and MAILS Line with seven feet; this line is from Casey At The Bat; what is its metrical foot? heptameter It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville nine that day To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails The Eve of St. Agnes – John Keats It LOOKED | exTREME|ly ROCK|y FOR | the MUD|ville NINE | that DAY

9. Line with eight feet; identify the metrical foot of the following line. Do you know the poem? Poet? octameter While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping trochaic octameter; The Raven – Edgar Allen Poe Technically, octameter is the longest line in the formal classification in metered poetry, so we will stop there. Sometimes it pays to be totally messed up.

10. A pause in a metric line of poetry; can essentially be placed anywhere; see limerick example. caesura Traditionally, a nonsensical poem of five anapestic lines, where lines 1, 2 and 5 are trimeters and rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 are dimeters and rhyme. Note the caesuras in lines 1 & 2. limerick __ A flea | and a fly | in a flue __ Were caught, | __ so what | could they do? Said the fly, | "Let us flee." "Let us fly," | said the flea. So they flew | through a flaw | in the flue.

11. They were frequently used in traditional ballads (ballads are narratives and were traditionally meant to be read or sung aloud); it is a quatrain (four line stanza) of alternating tetrameter and trimeter, with a rhyme scheme of either abab or abcb. ballad stanza Terse and witty saying stating a general truth. aphorism Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. Even the best of friends cannot attend each other's funeral. Never forget what you need to remember.

12. I’m assuming you are already familiar with these terms: alliteration assonance That solit u de which s ui ts abstr u ser m u sings – Samuel Taylor Coleridge Repetition of vowel sounds within phrases/sentences that creates internal rhyming Repetition of initial consonant sounds consonance Repetition of two or more consonants using different vowels; repeats the consonant sounds but not vowel sounds He heard the p itter p atter of r iff r aff on the roof The b uffalo b ellowed b ecause of its b reath.

13. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain In the following piece of verse from Poe’s The Raven, where is the alliteration, assonance and consonance? And the s ilken s ad un c ertain rustling of each purple curtain alliteration assonance consonance