1. “What are those smiley faces?”
Meter and Feet in Poetry

2. Feet: the units which denotes a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables
Comes in the forms of:
Iamb
Anapest
Trochee
Dactyl
Spondee
Pyrrhic

3. FEET!!!!!!!!!!! Stressed syllables are marked with a: /
Unstressed syllables are marked with a: U
Therefore…
Iamb = U/ (unstressed, stressed)
Anapest = UU/ (unstressed, unstressed, stressed)
Trochee = /U (stressed, unstressed)
Dactyl = /UU (stressed, unstressed, unstressed)
Spondee = // (stressed, stressed)
Pyrrhic = UU (unstressed, unstressed)

4. Some words… Iamb = da DUM like desSTROY, creATE
Anapest = da da DUM like se-ven-TEEN
Trochee = DUM da like TUMmy, TICKle
Dactyl = DUM da da like STRAW-ber-ry,
BUF-fa-lo
Spondee = DUM DUM like FOOT-BALL, BATH- ROBE, BREAK-DOWN
Pyrrhic = da da like in the” or “on a” (can you think of a better one?)

5. There are also different types of meters
They come in the form of:
Monometer: mono = one (monocle)
Dimeter: di = two (dialogue)
Trimeter: tri = three (tricycle)
Tetrameter: tetra = four (tetrapods)
Pentameter: penta = five (pentagram)
Hexameter: hexa = six (hexagon)
Heptameter: hepta = seven (heptagon)
Octometer: octo = eight (octopus)

6. So, just about any combination of these two things is possible…
For example
Iambic pentameter (five feet of U/)
U/ | U/ | U/ | U/ | U/
Anapestic tetrameter (four feet of UU/)
UU/ | UU/ | UU/ | UU/
Trochaic octometer (eight feet of /U)
/U | /U | /U | /U | /U | /U | /U | /U
Trochaic tetrameter (four feet of /U)
/U | /U | /U | /U
Spondaic dimieter (two feet of //)
// | //
Dactylic hexameter (six feet of /UU)
/UU | /UU | /UU | /UU | /UU | /UU
Etc.
NOTE: Feet are separated with a vertical line.

7. Some Examples! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
U / | U / | U / | U / | U /
Iambic Pentameter, yes?
Because I could not stop for death
U / | U / | U / | U /
Iambic tetrameter

8. Some Examples Twas the night before Christmas and all though the house
U U / | U U / | U U / | U U /
Anapestic tetrameter
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary
/ U | / U | / U | / U | / U | / U | / U | / U
Trochaic octometer

9. Can you figure out these ones?
So I walk by the edge of a lake in my dream
And the sound of a voice that is still
Do not go gentle into that good night
Half a league, half a league
Tyger, tyger burning bright
Eeny meeny miny moe
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
Wild nights! Wild nights!

10. Answers to previous slide
Dream: Anapestic tetrameter
Voice: Anapestic trimeter
Night: Iambic pentameter
League: Dactylic dimeter
Tyger: Trochaic tetrameter (with a silent unstressed syllable at the end)
Eeny: Iambic tetrameter/spondaic dimeter
Grace: Iambic tetrameter
Wild: Spondaic dimeter

11. Trick question: what’s the meter of these?
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness
I lean and loaf at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass
Some people never go crazy what truly horrible lives they must lead