The Rhythm of Poetry Syllable Poetic feet Meter

The Rhythm of Poetry: Syllable - Poetic feet - Meter

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)

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)

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”

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

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

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

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

Anapestic pattern • 2 unstressed syllables followed by 1 stressed syllable • EXAMPLES: – on the road – interrupt (in-ter-RUPT) RUPT – unabridged, bridged contradict, dict engineer, eer masquerade, rade Galilee

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

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

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)

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)

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 / 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.

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.

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

Type + Number = Meter • • • Types of Poetic Feet Iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed) Trochaic (1 stressed + 1 unstressed) Anapestic Dactylic (1 stressed + 2 unstressed) Spondaic (all syllables equal) (2 unstressed + 1 stressed) Number of feet per line • • • Monometer Dimeter Trimeter Tetrameter Pentameter Hexameter

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

Meters & Feet • Q: If a poem had 2 feet per line, line and the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed), what type of poem would it be? • A: Iambic dimeter

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

Meters & Feet • Q: If a poem had 4 feet per line, line and the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed), what type of poem would it be? • A: Iambic tetrameter

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

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

Go ahead… experiment with different metric styles in your own poetry! End of presentation.