1. Poetic Meter

2. Meter: Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables
The basic unit of meter is a foot. A foot is a unit of meter that consists of a combination of two or more stressed or unstressed syllables. When analyzing poetry, a stressed syllable is marked as (/) and an unstressed syllable is marked as ( or ^).
Most common feet in English poetry:
Iamb  / Dactyl /  
Trochee /  Spondee / /
Anapest   /
Note that these feet contain either 2 or 3 syllables

3.  / 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

4. Trochaic /  (Tro-kay-ik)
/  /  /  /  /  /  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?

5. 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

6. /   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 “

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. How do I figure out the meter of a poem?

11. Basic Background…
Every word has syllables and particular emphasis when the word is pronounced
Dictionary Example:
emphasis = \ˈem(p)-fə-səs\
syllable = \ˈsi-lə-bəl\
In dictionaries, the ` symbol marks which syllable is stressed in a word’s pronunciation

12. 3 Steps for Determining Poetic Meter in Poetic Lines
Count & number the syllables in a poetic line.
Find words that are poly/multisyllabic (more than one).
Check for patterns to determine the stress pattern
Note: If necessary, you can use a dictionary to find out which syllable is stressed in particular poly/multisyllabic words

13. 1). Number the syllables Tyger, tyger, burning bright
Blake, “The Tyger”
Tyger, tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night

14. Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night
Blake, “The Tyger”
Tyger, tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night

15. Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night
2). Decide how many syllables belong in one poetic foot of the poem. Tip: Look for multisyllabic words, noting where their syllables would be stressed.
Blake, “The Tyger”
Tyger, tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night

16. Tyger, tyger, burning bright /  In the forests of the night
Blake, “The Tyger”
/  /  / 
Tyger, tyger, burning bright
/ 
In the forests of the night

17. Let’s check for patterns.
The feet of this poem have 2 syllables (based on the multisyllabic words)
The multisyllabic words all follow the structure of starting with a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable (What type is this?)
In both lines of the poem, there are 7 syllables, which equals 4 separate feet. (What type of metrical line has 4 feet?)
NOTE: When there’s an odd number, the last foot is considered catalectic, which means incomplete. It still counts as a foot.

18. So what do we have?
Trochaic (Stress unstressed) Tetrameter (4 feet per line)
/  /  /  /
Tyger, | tyger, | burning | bright
/  /  /  /
In the | forests | of the | night

19. Example Line of Poetry # 2
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea
Number the syllables
Decide if the poetic foot is two or three syllables
Look for patterns; determine the stress pattern

20. Problems!
12 syllables are divisible by either 2 or 3, so how do we find out how many syllables are in one foot of this poem?
There are no multisyllabic words to give us clues!
STRATEGY: Test the pattern aloud.

21. Determine the poetic feet & where the syllables should be stressed
And the | sheen of | their spears |was like| stars on| the sea|
-OR-
And the sheen |
of their spears |
was like stars | on the sea|
Determine the poetic feet & where the syllables should be stressed

22. So, what is the type of foot? What is the type of metrical line?
  /
And the sheen |
of their spears |
was like stars |
on the sea|
So, what is the type of foot?
What is the type of metrical line?

23. Unstressed, unstressed, stressed =
  /
And the sheen |
of their spears |
was like stars |
on the sea|
Unstressed, unstressed, stressed =
 /
anapestic
4 feet =
tetrameter

24. Example Line of Poetry # 3
Half a league, half a league,
half a league onward
Number the syllables
Decide if the poetic foot is two or three syllables
Look for patterns; determine the stress pattern

25. Dactyl (/  ) Tetrameter
/  
Half a league, |
half a league, |
/   / 
half a league | onward
Note: Onward is incomplete, but is still a foot (catalectic)