1. The Tools of Poetry 4: Rhythm & Meter
English I Honors
Mr. Popovich

2. Rhythm in Poetry Rhythm is another way poets can create sound effects.
In English-language poetry, rhythm is created by alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.
But remember that it is different in other languages.
Chinese uses tone or pitch of syllables to create rhythm.
Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and Arabic use the length of syllables to create rhythm.
Old English and German use the number of stressed syllables to create rhythm.
French, Spanish, and Japanese use the total number of syllables to create rhythm.

3. Rhythm in Poetry The use of rhythm in poetry can take the form of
Either metrical verse
a strict pattern of a certain number of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line of the poem
metrical verse usually includes a rhyme scheme
but it may not rhyme (this is called blank verse)
Or free verse
a loose rhythm that sounds like natural speech
typically does not use a rhyme scheme
But does use other sound effects

4. Meter
In metrical verse, the stressed and unstressed syllables are arranged in a regular pattern.
Read this excerpt. How many syllables per line?
˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’
The mountain mists, condensing at our voice
Under the moon, had spread their snowy flakes,
From the keen ice shielding our linkèd sleep.
—from “Prometheus Unbound” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’
˘ ˘ ’ ’ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ’
Now mark the stressed (′) and unstressed (˘) syllables.
Marking a poem in this way is called scanning it.
Is this an example of rhymed verse or blank verse?

5. Feet
Verse is made up of metrical units called feet.
A foot consists of at least one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed syllables.
FOOT
TYPE
SCANSION
EXAMPLE
Iamb
Unstressed-Stressed
insist
Trochee
Stressed-Unstressed
perfect
Anapest
Unstressed-Unstressed-Stressed
understand
Dactyl
Stressed-Unstressed-Unstressed
excellent
Spondee
Stressed-Stressed
football
˘ ’
’ ˘
˘ ˘ ’
’ ˘ ˘
’ ’

6. Lines Lines of verse are categorized according to:
What kind of foot it contains,
see previous chart
convert to an adjective
How many feet it contains,
tetra = four
penta = five
hexa = six
And ends in the suffix –meter
which means “measure”

7. ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘
Verse
Using scansion symbols, write out:
What does Trochaic Tetrameter look like?
What does Dactylic Hexameter look like?
What does Iambic Pentameter look like?
Quick Check
Trochaic Tetrameter
By the shores of Gitchee Gumee
—from “Song of Hiawatha” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘
Dactylic Hexameter
This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks of
—from “Evangeline” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘ ’ ˘ ˘
Iambic Pentameter
˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’ ˘ ’
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
—from “Sonnet 55” by William Shakespeare

8. But what other sound effects does she use?
Free Verse
Free verse is a kind of poetry that does not have a regular meter or a fixed rhyme scheme.
Never, in all your career of worrying, did you imagine
what worries could occur concerning the flying cat.
You are traveling to a distant city.
The cat must travel in a small box with holes.
—from “The Flying Cat” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Because it is “free” of metrical rules, free verse sounds more like everyday speech than verse.
But what other sound effects does she use?

9. The End