Meter in Poetry

1. T he Rhythm of
Poetr y:
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  (not an-GEL)
• Complete = com-PLETE  (not 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:
The curved lines are
“unstressed” syllables while the
straight slashes are “stressed”

5. Poetic Meter
• Meters are the rhythms within poems.
• Meters are the arrangement of
stressed/unstressed syllables to
stressed
occur at apparently equal intervals.
• Metered verse has prescribed rules as
to the number and placement of
syllables used per line.

6. Poetic Foot
• 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

7. Five main patterns to poetic feet:
1. Iambic
2. Trochaic
Anapestic
4. Dactylic
5. Spondaic
3.

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

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

10. Anapestic pattern
• 2 unstressed syllables
stressed syllable
followed by
• EXAMPLES:
– on the road
– interrupt (in-ter-RUPT)
RUPT
– unabridged, contradict, engineer,
bridged
dict
eer
masquerade, Galilee
rade
1

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

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

13. The Iambic foot
• The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable + 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)

14. 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)

15. 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.

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

17. Dactylic poem:
1 stressed + 2 unstressed
Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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.

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

19. Combinations of Poetic Feet
•
•
•
•
•
•
One foot per line: monometer
Two feet per line : dimeter
Three feet per line : trimeter
Four feet per line : tetrameter
Five feet per line : pentameter
Six feet per line : hexameter

20. Type + Number = Meter
•
•
•
•
•
Types of Poetic Feet
Iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed)
Trochaic (1 stressed + 1 unstressed)
Anapestic
Dactylic (1 stressed + 2 unstressed)
Spondaic (all syllables equal)
(2 unstressed + 1 stressed)
Number of feet per line
•
•
•
•
•
•
Monometer
Dimeter
Trimeter
Tetrameter
Pentameter
Hexameter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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