The Rhythm of Poetry:

1
The Rhythm of Poetry

• Syllable - Poetic feet - Meter

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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)

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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)

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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?
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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.

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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

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Five main patterns to poetic feet

• 1. Iambic
• 2. Trochaic
• 3. Anapestic
• 4. Dactylic
• 5. Spondaic

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Iambic pattern

• 1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed
  syllable
• EXAMPLES
• repose (re-POSE)
• belief (be-LIEF)
• complete (com-PLETE)

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Trochaic Pattern

• 1 stressed syllable followed by 1 unstressed
  syllable
• EXAMPLES
• garland (GAR-land)
• speaking (SPEAK-ing)
• value (VAL-ue)

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Anapestic pattern

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

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Dactylic pattern

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

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Spondaic Pattern

• All syllables have equal stress
• EXAMPLE
• Heartbreak
• Out, out
• "pen-knife," "ad hoc," "heartburn"

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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)

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Lines containing iambic feet

• Behold / and watch / the sun / destroy / and grow
  (5 iambs)
• When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the
  TIME Shakespeares Sonnet 12 (5 iambs)
• Shall I / compare /thee to / a sum / mer's day?
  Shakespeares Sonnet 12 (5 iambs)
• Come live/ with me/ and be/ my love (4 iambs)
• (poem by Christopher Marlowe)

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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.

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Anapestic poetry 2 unstressed syllables 1
stressed oneLimericks 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!"

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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.

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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.

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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

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Type Number Meter

• Types of Poetic Feet
• 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Go ahead experiment with different metric styles
in your own poetry!

• End of presentation.