Poetry Meter and Rhyme

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

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 (/) above syllable Unstressed syllables are marked with a (ˇ) above the syllable mu-sic, for-mu-la In the yard, sing-ing in the rain At noon, the tel-e-phone rang.

Basic Metrical Feet The five basic metrical feet are Iamb – unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da DAH) But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? From Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Trochee – stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (DAH da) Thou, when thou return’st, wilt tell me from “Song” by John Donne

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 On the twinkling grass From “To a Skylark” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Basic Metrical Feet Dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (DAH da da) Like to the lark at the break of day arising from Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

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

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. Step 2: If possible, identify the type of foot used most often in each line (iamb, trochee, spondee, anapest, dactyl).

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 trimester, etc.

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 Marvel

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 every burst Into that silent sea. from The Rime of the Ancient mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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

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

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. (lower case) 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

The End