This document defines rhythm, meter, and scansion. Rhythm refers to the overall tempo of a poem, while meter refers to the measured beat established by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. Scansion involves identifying the meter (e.g. iambic pentameter), analyzing the stressed and unstressed syllables in each line, and describing the rhyme and stanza patterns. The document provides examples of scanning different poems line-by-line and discusses how variations in meter can reinforce the meaning. It notes that scansion is not an exact science and different readers may have differing interpretations.

1. CHAPTER XII
RHYTHM AND
METER

2. DEFINITION
• Rhythm refers to overall tempo, or pace, at
which the poem unfolds.
• Meter refers to the measured beat established
by patterns of stressed and unstressed syllable.
• Meter is the kind of rhythm we can put tap our
foot to.
• In language that is metrical, the accents are so
arranged as to occur at apparently equal
intervals of time.

3. • In verse or prose, the movement or sense of movement
communicated by the arrangement of stressed/ACCENTED
and unstressed/UNACCENTED syllables and by the
duration of the syllables.

4. Accented or stressed syllable
• Today
• Tomorrow,
• Yesterday
• Daily,
• Intervene
• “He went to the store”
• “Jack is driving his car.”

5. RHYTHM
Begin with
unstressed and
ends with stressed
is rising rhythm.
Begin with
stressed and ends
with unstressed is
falling rhythm
FALLING
RISING

6. UNIT OF
MEASUREMENT

7. • To measure something we must have a unit of
measurement.
• For measuring verse we use:
1.Foot;
2.The line;
3.The stanza.

8. FOOT
• The basic metrical unit, the foot, consists
of one accented syllable plus one or two
unaccented syllables.
 One stressed syllable + one/two unstressed syllables
(normally)
 No unstressed syllable (occasionally)
 Three syllable (very rarely)
• Stressed/accented syllables : ─
• Unstressed/unaccented syllables : ࢽ

9. Basic kinds of foot
example Name of foot Name of meter
ࢽ ̲
To-day
iamb iambic Duple meter
̲ ࢽ
Dai-ly
trochee trochaic
ࢽ ࢽ ̲
In- ter- vene
anapest anapestic Triple meter
̲ ࢽ ࢽ
Yes-ter-day
dactyl Dactylic
̲ ̲
True-blue
spondee (spondaic)
̲
day
Monosyllabic foot

10. Iamb: Two syllables, the first of which is unstressed and
the second of which is stressed.
For example, comPUTER, disPEL, aGREE.
Trochee: Two syllables, the first of which is stressed and
the second of which is unstressed.
For example: ARgue, BISHop, DOCtor.
Anapest: Three syllables, the first two of which are
unstressed and the third of which is stressed.
For example: of a KIND, souvenIR, underSTAND.
Dactyl: Three syllables, the first of which is stressed and
the next two of which are unstressed.
For example, ELephant, POSSible, TRINity.
Spondee: Two syllables, both of which are stressed.
For example: ICE CREAM, HOT LINE, CELL PHONE.

12. LINE
Line is measured by naming the number of feet in
it.
Monometer One foot Pentameter Five feet
Dimeter Two feet Hexameter Six feet
Trimeter Three feet Heptameter Seven feet
Tetrameter Four feet Octameter Eight feet

13. example
‫ں‬ ─ / ‫ں‬ ─
For thou /must die
‫ں‬ ─ / ‫ں‬ ─ /‫ں‬ ─ / ‫ں‬ ─
Like sea-/soned tim/ber, nev-/er gives/
two feet of
iambic:
Iambic dimeter
four feet of
iambic:
Iambic
tetrameter

14. STANZA
Stanza consists of a group of lines whose
metrical pattern is repeated throughout
the poem.

15. THE TYPES OF STANZA
1. Couplet: A couplet consists of two
rhyming lines having the same meter.

16. 2. Tercet: A tercet consists of three
rhyming lines having the same meter.

17. 3. Quatrain: A quatrain consists of four
rhyming lines having the same meter.

18. 4. Quintet: A quintet consists of five
rhyming lines having the same meter.

19. SCANSION
• To scan a verse, we do three things:
• (1) we identify the prevailing foot,
• (2) we name the number of feet in a line;- if
this length follows any regular pattern;
• (3) we describe the stanza pattern- if there is
one

20. VIRTUE
George Herbert ( 1593-
1633)
First stanza
̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
Sweet day/, so cool / so calm,/ so bright,/
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
The bri/dal of /the earth /and sky;/
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
The dew /shall weep /thy fall /to night,/
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
For thou /must die./
No marking can be
called incorrect, it is a
personal judgement or
personal metrical
philosophy
Line 1: ‘Sweet day’ is
marked as spondee as
the word sweet is more
important than the
three other so’s

21. ̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ̲ ࢽ / ࢽ ̲ /
Sweet rose,/ whose hue,/ an-gry/and brave/,
̲ ࢽ / ̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
Bids the /rash gaz/er wipe /his eye;/
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
Thy root/ is ev/er in /its grave,/
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
And thou /must die./
The word angry MUST be
marked trochee (not iamb)
because at word level the
dictionary says so
Second stanza

22. ̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /ࢽ
Sweet spring,/full of/sweet days /and ros/es,
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
A box/ where sweets/ com-pact/ed lie;/
/ ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ
My mu-/sic shows/ ye have /your clos-/es,
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
And all /must die./
Different from other
lines: because it has
9 syllables (instead of
8) and has one left-
over unaccented
syllables. This left
over unaccented
syllable is not
counted. This line is
called tetrameter
Third stanza

23. ̲ ࢽ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ࢽ ̲ /
On-ly/ a sweet/ and vir-/tu-ous soul,/
ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
Like sea-/soned tim-/ber, -nev-/er gives/
/ ࢽ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ / ̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
But though /the whole/ world turn /to coal,/
̲ ̲ / ࢽ ̲ /
Then chief/ly lives./
The first three stanzas all
begin with a spondee and all
means related to things that
live
The contrasting fourth stanza
begin with a trochee and
means things that die
Thus, the metrical reversal
gives emphasis meter
serves meaning
Fourth stanza

24. Generalization about scansion
1. Good readers will not ordinarily stop to
scan a poem they are reading, and they
certainly will not read a poem with the
exaggerated emphasis on accented
syllables
2. Scansion is at best a gross way of
describing the rhythmical quality of a
poem

25. 3. Scansion is not an altogether exact
science. Within certain limits we may say
that a certain scansion is right or wrong, but
beyond this limit there is a legitimate room
for disagreement between qualified readers
4. Perfect regularity of meter is no criterion
of merit. Once basic meter has been
established, any deviation of it become
significant to reinforce meaning.

26. • We must not forget that poetry needs not
be metrical at all. Like alliteration and rime,
like metaphor and irony, even imagery.
Meter is simply one resource the poet may
or may not use. His job is to employ his
resources to the best advantage for
expressing the experience he wishes to
express.

27. • End of this chapter

28. Fire and Ice

29. • The poem is written in iambic tetrameter,
but is varied several times to give
awareness of the poem.
• The first change occurs in the second line
when the tetrameter is replaced by dimeter
• The second changes occur in the last two
lines, it switch back to dimeter
• These changes are important to give
emphasis on important lines
• Thus, meter reinforces meaning.

30. 1. Read the poem normally, listen where the
accent falls. If you hav any doubt skip it,
continue working with lines we feel
greater confidence
2. Neither marking can be called incorrect, it
is a matter of personal judgment or his
metrical philosophy
3. The division between feet may be in the
middle of word

31. 4. meter serves meaning. Scansion has
value the relation of sound and meter to
sense
5. Scansion describes the rhythmical quality
of a poem
6. Accented and unaccented syllable
depends on its degree of accent relative to
the syllables on either side of it

32. 7. Scansion is not an exact science. There is
legitimate room for disagreement between
qualified readers
8. The division between feet has no
meaning except to help us identify the
meter

33. • 9. Perfect regularity of meter is not
criterion of merit. First, as any art
repetition and variation is essential.
Second, to emphasis the meaning the
poet can make any deviation of meter from
its regular one
• Poetry need not be metrical at all