This document discusses poetic rhythm and meter. It defines syllables and poetic feet, including the five main patterns: iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, and spondaic. It provides examples of each pattern in words and lines of poetry. The document also explains poetic meter as the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables that occur at regular intervals. It describes how poetic feet are combined into different line lengths or meters, such as iambic pentameter. Overall, the document provides an overview of the basic rhythmic building blocks and patterns found in poetry.

1. T he Rhythm of
Poetr y:
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
stressed
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
Anapestic
4. Dactylic
5. Spondaic
3.

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

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

11. 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

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. 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
Rode the / six hundred.

18. Spondaic Poem: 2 equal syllables
• Because of this nature of the spondee,
a serious poem cannot be solely
spondaic.
spondaic
• It would be almost impossible to construct
a poem entirely of stressed syllables.
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
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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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