This document discusses poetic meter and feet. It defines syllables and scansion, and explains that meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem. Common poetic feet include iamb, trochee, anapest and dactyl. Iambic pentameter is described as having five iambic feet per line. Examples of poems that demonstrate trochaic, anapestic and dactylic meter are provided. The document also explains how poetic feet combine to form different types of meter, such as iambic trimeter.

1. The Rhythm off
Poetry:
Meter in Poetry andVerse
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
 Complete = 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:

5. The curved lines are “unstressed” syllables while the
straight slashes are “stressed”

6. Poetic Meter
•
 • Meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
in a poem. It is the rhythm within a poem.

7. Types of Meters
 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
 Iamb – A foot that has unstressed syllable
followed by stressed syllable.

8. Types of Feet
Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + Stressed Two Syllables
Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + Unstressed Two Syllables
Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed Two Syllables
Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed +
Unstressed + Stressed
Three Syllables
Dactyl (Dactylic) Stressed + Unstressed +
Unstressed
Three Syllables

9. Special Names
 The followings are names of meter & line length
Monometer One foot
Dimeter Two feet
Trimeter Three feet
Tetrameter Four feet
Pentameter Five feet
Hexameter Six feet
Heptameter Seven feet
Octameter Eight feet

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

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

12. Anapestic pattern
 2 unstressed syllables followed by 1
 stressed syllable
 EXAMPLES:
 on the road
 interrupt (in-ter-RUPT)
 unabridged, contradict, engineer,
 masquerade, Galilee

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

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

15. The Iambic foot
 •The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable followed by 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)

16. 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)

17. 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.

18. Anapestic poetry: 2 unstressed syllables + 1 stressed
one Limericks contain anapestic meter (in blue)
Limerick by Edward Lear:
There was / an Old Man / with a beard,
Who said, "It is just / as I feared!
TwoOwls / and a Hen,
Four Larks / and a Wren,
Have all / built their nests / in my beard!"

19. Dactylic poem: 1 stressed + 2 unstressed
Charge of the Light Brigade byAlfred, LordTennyson
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.

20. 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.

21. Combinations of Poetic Feet

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

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

30. Thank you