This document discusses poetic meter and feet. It defines syllables, scansion, and the five main poetic feet: iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, and spondaic. Examples are provided for each foot. The iamb is described as the most common foot in English poetry. Combinations of feet and lines make different meters, such as iambic pentameter. Understanding poetic feet and meters can help analyze and create poetry.

1. TheThe RhythmRhythm ofof
Poetry:Poetry:
Syllable - Poetic feet - MeterSyllable - 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
stressedstressed/unstressed syllables to
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 footA poetic foot is a repeated sequence
of rhythm comprised of two or more
stressed and/or unstressed syllables.
• Poetic meterPoetic meter is comprised of poetic feetpoetic feet

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

8. Iambic patternIambic pattern
• 1 unstressed syllable followed by 1
stressed syllable
• EXAMPLES:EXAMPLES:
– repose (re-POSEPOSE)
– belief (be-LIEFLIEF)
– complete (com-PLETEPLETE)

9. Trochaic PatternTrochaic Pattern
• 1 stressed syllable1 stressed syllable followed by 1
unstressed syllable
• EXAMPLES:EXAMPLES:
– garland (GAR-land)
– speaking (SPEAK-ing)
– value (VAL-ue)

10. Anapestic patternAnapestic pattern
• 2 unstressed syllables followed by 1
stressed syllable
• EXAMPLES:EXAMPLES:
– on the roadroad
– interrupt (in-ter-RUPTRUPT)
– unabridgedbridged, contradictdict, engineereer,
masqueraderade, Galileelee

11. Dactylic patternDactylic pattern
• 1 stressed syllable1 stressed syllable followed by 2
unstressed syllables
• EXAMPLE:EXAMPLE:
– happiness (HAP-pi-ness)
– galloping (GAL-lop-ing)
– forfortunate, SatSaturday, dafdaffodil, murmurmuring,
rhaprhapsody

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

13. The Iambic foot
• The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable + 1 stressed syllable) is the
most commonmost common poetic foot in English verse.
• iambic foot examples: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 feetiambic 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: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. SpondaicSpondaic Poem: 2 equal syllables
• Because of this nature of the spondee,
a serious poem cannot be solelya serious poem cannot be solely
spondaicspondaic.
• It would be almost impossible to construct
a poem entirely of stressed syllablesentirely of stressed syllables.
• Therefore, the spondee usuallyusually
occurs within a poemoccurs within a poem having another
dominant rhythm scheme.

19. Combinations of Poetic Feet
• OneOne foot per line: monometermonometer
• TwoTwo feet per line : dimeterdimeter
• ThreeThree feet per line : trimetertrimeter
• FourFour feet per line : tetrametertetrameter
• FiveFive feet per line : pentameterpentameter
• SixSix feet per line : hexameterhexameter

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

21. Meters & Feet
•Q:Q: If a poem had 1 foot per line1 foot per line, and
the foot was iambiciambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A:A: Iambic monometermonometer

22. Meters & Feet
•Q:Q: If a poem had 2 feet per line2 feet per line, and
the foot was iambiciambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A:A: Iambic dimeterdimeter

23. Meters & Feet
•Q:Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line3 feet per line, and
the foot was iambiciambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A:A: Iambic trimetertrimeter

24. Meters & Feet
•Q:Q: If a poem had 4 feet per line4 feet per line, and
the foot was iambiciambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A:A: Iambic tetrametertetrameter

25. Meters & Feet
•Q:Q: If a poem had 5 feet per line5 feet per line, and
the foot was iambiciambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
•A:A: Iambic pentameterpentameter

26. Meters & Feet
•Q:Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line3 feet per line, and
the foot was trochaictrochaic (1 stressed +1
unstressed), what type of poem would it be?
•A:A: Trochaic tetrametertetrameter

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