1. Syllable - Poetic feet - Meter
The Rhythm of Poetry:
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 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
3. Anapestic
4. Dactylic
5. Spondaic

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

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 followed by 1 stressed syllable
EXAMPLES:
on the road
interrupt (in-ter-RUPT)
unabridged, contradict, engineer, masquerade, Galilee

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

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. A Limerick by Edward Lear:
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

18. 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.

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 Monometer
Iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed)
Trochaic (1 stressed + 1 unstressed)
Anapestic (2 unstressed + 1 stressed)
Dactylic (1 stressed + 2 unstressed)
Spondaic (all syllables equal)
Number of feet per line
Monometer
Dimeter
Trimeter
Tetrameter
Pentameter
Hexameter

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

22. A: Iambic monometer

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

24. A: Iambic pentameter

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

26. A: Trochaic tetrameter

27. Ultimate Test –An actual poem!
“The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown…

28. Experiment with different metric styles in your own poetry!
Answer: Anapestic Tetrameter
Experiment with different metric styles in your own poetry!