Meter and Rhythm What do you know about

Meter and Rhythm What do you know about these terms? Discuss! Syllable – Stressed/Unstressed beats Poetic feet - Poetic meter Poetry Boot Camp Day 3

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) / u –angel • Complete = com-PLETE (not COM-plete) u / - complete

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 unstressed) • entertainment = en-ter-TAIN-ment (2 unstressed + 1 unstressed)

A Helpful Hint… • Place your hand under your chin while reading the poem aloud. Your chin will naturally hit your hand on the stressed beats. • Darth Vader decided to crush the rebel soldier. • Luke will rebel against his father's wishes. • How do these sound differently? • Darth Vader decided to crush the re. BEL soldier. • Luke will REbel against his father’s wishes.

Another Helpful Procedure Demon Deacon Basketball 1. Break into the syllables and spell phonetically dee | mun | deek | ahn | bask | it | bahl 2. Say it aloud or think about the sound a few times. Capitalize the syllables that seem to be stressed. DEE | mun | DEEK | ahn | BASK | it | bahl not dee | MUN | deek | AHN | bask | IT | bahl

How do I know what’s stressed and not stressed? • Say the word out loud as you naturally would, but listen to which syllables are emphasized. • • Trial Taxes Upset Retain Badminton Government Pirouette • Write down your answers, using capital letters for the syllables that you emphasized.

Is this what you said? • • TRI-al TAX-es up-SET re-TAIN BAD-min-ton GOV-ern-ment pir-ou-ETTE

Write your name and mark the stressed and unstressed syllables u u Chris to pher CHRIS toe fur u Sa bol cik SAH bull CHICK / u / u Stu art E gan STU art EEE gun

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”

With hot intent the flames will soon expire. with HOT in-TENT the FLAMES will SOON ex-PIRE

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

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

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

Iambic pattern • 1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable • EXAMPLES: – repose (re-POSE) POSE – belief (be-LIEF) LIEF – complete (com-PLETE) PLETE – The morns are meeker than they were, The nuts are getting brown

Trochaic Pattern • 1 stressed syllable followed by 1 unstressed syllable • EXAMPLES: – garland (GAR-land) – speaking (SPEAK-ing) – value (VAL-ue) – Come on, baby, light my fire. Try to set the night on fire.

Anapestic pattern • 2 unstressed syllables followed by 1 stressed syllable • EXAMPLES: – on the road – interrupt (in-ter-RUPT) RUPT – unabridged, contra dict, engin eer, bridged dict eer masquerade, Gali lee rade lee – 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,

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 – This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks

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

Rising and Falling Meters • RISING FEET • Iambic u / • Anapestic • FALLING FEET • Trochaic / u • Dactyllic u u / / u u Rising to the stressed beat from the unstressed. Falling from the stressed to the unstressed.

Some general, non-universal rules that usually apply, but not always • Single-syllable nouns are usually articles, accented conjunctions, and prepositions are • Multi-syllabic words usually not usually have at accented (“but” or least one stressed “yet” can go either syllable (even way) prepositions) • Prefixes are usually not accented

The Iambic foot • The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable + 1 stressed syllable) is the most common poetic foot in English verse. • iambic foot examples: – be. HOLD – des. TROY – the SUN (articles such as “the” are usually unstressed syllables) – and WATCH (conjunctions such as and are usually unstressed syllables)

Irregularities – PAY ATTENTION TO THEM Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player IAMBIC PENT That struts and frets his hour upon the stage IAMBIC PENT And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing. IAMBIC PENT IAMBIC TRI

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.

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!"

Dactylic poem: 1 stressed + 2 unstressed Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Half a league, / half a league, Half a league / on ward, All in the / valley of / Death NOTICE Rode the / six hundred. THE SPONDEE. "Forward, the / Light Brigade! WHY DOES IT Charge for the / guns!" he said: FIT TO PUT Into the / valley of / Death THERE? Rode the / six hundred.

Spondaic Poem: 2 equal syllables • Because of this nature of the spondee, a poem (usually) 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.

Metrical Feet • • One Foot Two Feet Three Feet Four Feet Five Feet Six Feet Seven Feet Eight Feet = Monometer = Dimeter = Trimeter = Tetrameter = Pentameter = Hexameter = Heptameter = Octameter

Type + Number = Meter Number of feet per line 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) + • • Monometer Dimeter Trimeter Tetrameter Pentameter Hexameter Heptameter Octometer

When lines don’t quite add up… • Take close note when patterns are broken – Are ideas, tones, images shifted, too? • Catalectic foot – when there is an incomplete foot on the end of a line. / u / u / _? _ Music, when soft voices die, / u / u / __? __ Vibrates in the memory— / u / u Odours, when sweet violets sicken, / u / u Live within the senses they quicken.

Other Metrical Terms Ø Caesura – – A pause in the meter or rhythm of a line Flood-tide below me! || I see you face to face! Ø Enjambement – – A run-on line, continuing into the next without a grammatical break Green rustlings, more-than-regal charities Drift coolly from that tower of whispered light

The Process 1. Break down each word in the line into its syllable(s) 2. Mark stressed and unstressed beats. Pay attention to words like “a, ” “the, ” “in, ” etc. that are usually unaccented. Also pay attention to words that are usually accented (single syllable nouns) 3. Spot the pattern of feet. Are there mostly iambs, trochees, dactyls, or anapests? 4. How many feet per line? (monometer, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, etc. ) 5. Where are there pattern breaks? How does the effect fit with the content?

1. 2. 3. 4. u / u / u / Whose woods these are I think I know u / u / u / u / His house is in the vil lage though u / u / He will not see me stop ping here u / u / To watch his woods fill up with snow What meter does this poem have?

1. 2. 3. 4. u / u / u / Whose woods these are I think I know u / u / u / u / His house is in the vil lage though u / u / He will not see me stop ping here u / u / To watch his woods fill up with snow IAMBIC TETRAMETER!

Read pages 734 -737

Practice Time Complete a scansion analysis of the poems on the half sheet provided.

SOUND DEVICES – the effects that the sound of a word has when read aloud ALLITERATION—is the repetition of the initial letter or sound in two or more words in a line of verse. Sneaky snakes slide straddle. ONOMATOPOEIA—is the use of a word to represent or imitate natural sounds (buzz, crunch, gurgle, sizzle, hiss)

More Sound Devices ASSONANCE—is the similarity or repetition of a vowel sound in two or more words. Lake and stake are rhymes; lake and fate are assonance. Base and face are rhymes; base and fate are assonance. CONSONANCE—is the repetition of consonant sounds within a line of verse. Consonance is similar to alliteration except that consonance doesn’t limit the repeated sound to the initial letter or a word. But such a tide as moving seems asleep.

More Sound Devices REFRAIN—is the repetition of one or more phrases or lines at intervals in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. The refrain often takes the form of a chorus. REPETITION—is the reiterating of a word or phrase within a poem.

End of Presentation

Metrical Feet 1. Once upon a midnight dreary 2. Leaf again, life again 3. Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me 4. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways 5. I am called to the front of the room

Metrical Feet • Once upon a midnight dreary – trochaic tetrameter • Leaf again, life again – dactylic dimeter • Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me – iambic heptameter

Metrical Feet • How do I love thee? Let me count the ways – iambic pentameter • I am called to the front of the room – anapestic trimeter