1. Poetic Meter and Rhyme
Rhythmic Readings

2. What Is Poetic Meter?
Poetic meter is a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
It is like the rhythmic beat that draws you into music.
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
from “The Tyger” by William Blake

3. ´ ˇ ´ ˇ ˇ ´ ´ ˇ What Is a Poetic Foot?
A foot is a meter’s basic unit. A foot consists of one stressed syllable and usually one or more unstressed syllables.
Stressed syllables are marked with a ( ).
Unstressed syllables are marked with a ( ). ˇ ˇ
mu-sic, for-mu-la ˇ
in the yard, sing-ing in the rain ˇ
At noon, the tel-e-phone rang.

4. ´ ˇ ´ ˇ Basic Metrical Feet The five basic metrical feet are
iamb—unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da DAH)
But soft! What light through yon der win dow breaks?
from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare ˇ
trochee—stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (DAH da)
Thou, when thou re turn’st, wilt tell me
from “Song” by John Donne ˇ

5. ´ ˇ ´ ˇ Basic Metrical Feet spondee—two stressed syllables (DAH DAH)
Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: oh, hear!
from “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
anapest—two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (da da DAH) ˇ
On the twink ling grass
from “To a Skylark” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

6. Basic Metrical Feet
dactyl—one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (DAH da da) ˇ
Like to the lark at the break of day a rising
from Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

7. Counting Metrical Feet
To describe the number of feet in a line of poetry, use the following terms.
dimeter—two metrical feet per line
trimeter—three metrical feet per line
tetrameter—four metrical feet per line
pentameter—five metrical feet per line
hexameter—six metrical feet per line

8. Scansion: Analyzing Poetic Meter
Scansion is the act of analyzing poetic meter. To scan a poem, follow these steps.
Step 1: Read through the poem, marking stressed ( ) and unstressed ( ) syllables. ˇ
Step 2: If possible, identify the type of foot used most often in each line (iamb, trochee, spondee, anapest, dactyl).

9. Scansion: Analyzing Poetic Meter
Step 3: If the poem has a regular meter, count the number of feet per line to determine the name of the metrical pattern.
The metrical pattern consists of the name of the meter followed by the number of feet.
iambic pentameter, trochaic hexameter, dactylic trimeter, etc.

10. ´ ˇ ˇ ´ ´ ˇ ´ ˇ Scanning a Poem Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love’s day.
from “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell ˇ ˇ ˇ

11. What Is Rhyme?
Rhyme is the musical quality produced through the repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

12. Types of Rhymes End rhyme occurs at the ends of lines.
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night
from “The Tyger” by William Blake
Internal rhyme occurs within lines.
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

13. Types of Rhymes
Approximate rhyme occurs when words sound similar but do not rhyme exactly.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs forever
By the island in the river
from “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

14. Identifying a Rhyme Scheme
The rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymed lines in a poem. Identify the rhyme scheme by giving each new end rhyme a new letter.
Whate’er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o’er the sickle bending;—
I listen’d, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
from “The Solitary Reaper” by William Wordsworth a b c d e

15. What Have You Learned? Match each term to its definition.
Foot Meter Iamb Rhyme
Rhyme
Iamb
Meter
Foot
________— The basic unit of meter
________— Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
________— A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
________— Repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together

16. The End