poetry

1. The Rhythm off
Poetry:
Meter in Poetry andVerse
Syllable - Poetic feet - Meter

2. Syllables
 English words have clear syllables.
 We can usually divide words into syllables easily.
 We can also determine which syllables to emphasize, or
“stress” in each word.
 For example:
 Angel = AN-gel
 Complete = com-PLETE

3. More Syllables
 poem = PO-em…….(1 stressed + 1 unstressed)
 • poetry = PO-e-try…….(1 stressed + 2 unstressed)
 • relief = re-LIEF……. (1 unstressed + 1 stressed)
 • recommend = re-com-MEND……. (2 unstressed + 1 stressed)
 • discomfort = dis-COM-fort… (1 unstressed + 1 stressed + 1
unstressed)
 • entertainment = en-ter-TAIN-ment (2 unstressed + 1 stressed +
1 unstressed)

4. Scansion
 • (1) the act of scanning, or analyzing poetry in terms of its
rhythmic components
 • (2) the graphic representation, indicated by marked
accents, feet, etc.,
 of the rhythm of a line or lines of verse
 – You may have seen scansion marks like the following:

5. The curved lines are “unstressed” syllables while the
straight slashes are “stressed”

6. Poetic Meter
•
 • Meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
in a poem. It is the rhythm within a poem.

7. Types of Meters
 A poetic foot is a repeated sequence of
rhythm comprised of two or more stressed
and/or unstressed syllables.
 Poetic meter is comprised of poetic feet
 Iamb – A foot that has unstressed syllable
followed by stressed syllable.

8. Types of Feet
Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + Stressed Two Syllables
Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + Unstressed Two Syllables
Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed Two Syllables
Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed +
Unstressed + Stressed
Three Syllables
Dactyl (Dactylic) Stressed + Unstressed +
Unstressed
Three Syllables

9. Special Names
 The followings are names of meter & line length
Monometer One foot
Dimeter Two feet
Trimeter Three feet
Tetrameter Four feet
Pentameter Five feet
Hexameter Six feet
Heptameter Seven feet
Octameter Eight feet

10. Iambic pattern
 1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable
 EXAMPLES:
 – repose (re-POSE)
 – belief (be-LIEF)
 – complete (com-PLETE)

11. Trochaic Pattern
 1 stressed syllable followed by 1 unstressed syllable
 EXAMPLES:
 garland (GAR-land)
 speaking (SPEAK-ing)
 value (VAL-ue)

12. Anapestic pattern
 2 unstressed syllables followed by 1
 stressed syllable
 EXAMPLES:
 on the road
 interrupt (in-ter-RUPT)
 unabridged, contradict, engineer,
 masquerade, Galilee

13. Dactylic pattern
 • 1 stressed syllable followed by 2 unstressed syllables
 • EXAMPLE:
 – happiness (HAP-pi-ness)
 – galloping (GAL-lop-ing)
 – fortunate, Saturday, daffodil, murmuring,
 rhapsody

14. Spondaic Pattern
 • All syllables have equal stress
 • EXAMPLE:
 – Heartbreak
 – “Out, out…”
 – "pen-knife," "ad hoc," "heartburn"

15. The Iambic foot
 •The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable) is the
most common poetic foot in English verse.
 • iambic foot examples:
 – behold
 – destroy
 – the sun(articles such as “the” would be considered unstressed syllables)
 – and watch(conjunctions such as and would be considered unstressed
syllables)

16. Lines containing iambic feet
 Behold / and watch / the sun / destroy / and grow (5 iambs)
 When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME
[Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12] (5 iambs)
 • Shall I / compare /thee to / a sum / mer's day?
[Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12] (5 iambs)
 • Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love (4 iambs)
(poem by Christopher Marlowe)

17. Trochaic poem: a stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed one
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's “The Song of Hiawatha”
 By the / shores of / Gitche / Gumee,
 By the / shining / Big-Sea /-Water,
 Stood the / wigwam / of No / komis,
 Daughter / of the / Moon, No / komis.
 Dark behind it rose the forest,
 Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
 Rose the firs with cones upon them;
 Bright before' it beat the water,
 Beat the clear and sunny water,
 Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

18. Anapestic poetry: 2 unstressed syllables + 1 stressed
one Limericks contain anapestic meter (in blue)
Limerick by Edward Lear:
There was / an Old Man / with a beard,
Who said, "It is just / as I feared!
TwoOwls / and a Hen,
Four Larks / and a Wren,
Have all / built their nests / in my beard!"

19. Dactylic poem: 1 stressed + 2 unstressed
Charge of the Light Brigade byAlfred, LordTennyson
Half a league, / half a league,
Half a league / onward,
All in the / valley of / Death
Rode the / six hundred.
"Forward, the / Light Brigade!
Charge for the / guns!" he said:
Into the / valley of / Death
Rode the / six hundred.

20. Spondaic Poem: 2 equal syllables
 Because of this nature of the spondee, a serious poem
cannot be solely spondaic.
 • It would be almost impossible to construct a poem entirely
of stressed syllables.
 •Therefore, the spondee usually occurs within a poem
having another dominant rhythm scheme.

21. Combinations of Poetic Feet

23. Meters & Feet
 •Q: If a poem had 1 foot per line, and
 the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
 what type of poem would it be?
 •A: Iambic monometer

24. Meters & Feet
 •Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line, and
 the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
 what type of poem would it be?
 •A: Iambic trimeter

25. Meters & Feet
 •Q: If a poem had 2 feet per line, and
 the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
 what type of poem would it be?
 •A: Iambic dimeter

26. Meters & Feet
 •Q: If a poem had 4 feet per line, and
 the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
 what type of poem would it be?
 •A: Iambic tetrameter

27. Meters & Feet
 •Q: If a poem had 5 feet per line, and
 the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
 what type of poem would it be?
 •A: Iambic pentameter

28. Meters & Feet
 •Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line, and
 the foot was trochaic (1 stressed +1
 unstressed), what type of poem would it be?
 •A:Trochaic tetrameter

29.  Go ahead…
 experiment with different metric styles in your own
poetry!
 End of presentation.

30. Thank you