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Meter in Poetry

Meter in Poetry. By: Sunpyo Hong. What is Meter?. In poetry, meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. In a closer look, it refers to the recurring patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. What is a syllable?

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Meter in Poetry

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  1. Meter in Poetry By: Sunpyo Hong

  2. What is Meter? • In poetry, meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. In a closer look, it refers to the recurring patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. • What is a syllable? • Syllable is a very small unit of speech sound. Every word we use are made up of one or more syllables. • E.g. “Cat” contains one syllable. • E.g. “Monkey” contains two syllables. • Each pair, or three, of unstressed and stressed syllables make up a bigger unit of sound called ‘foot.’ • Take a look at the following example.

  3. Example • ShallI/comPARE/ theeTO/ aSUM/ mer’sDAY • Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a unit called a foot. • The unstressed syllables are in blue and the stressed syllables in red.  • A foot needs not to be a fusion of two different words. A pair of fragments from two different words may well form a foot.

  4. Example (Continued) 1 2 3 4 5 • ShallI/comPARE/ theeTO/ aSUM/ mer’sDAY • This particular type of foot– an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable– is called “iamb” or “iambic foot.” • There are total of 5 feet in the line. Therefore, the line is pentameter– “penta” refers to 5. • Given the type and the number of feet , this line is “Iambic pentameter.”

  5. 5 Different Types of Feet • Iambic (2 syllables): Unstressed + Stressed • E.g. “because,” “hello” • Trochaic (2 syllables) : Stressed+ Unstressed • E.g. “answer,” “Tuesday” • Spondaic (2 syllables) : Stressed + Stressed • E.g. “football,” “heartbreak,” black hole” • Anapestic (3 syllables) : Unstressed + Unstressed+ Stressed • E.g. “un-der-stand,” “Ma-ri-anne” • Dactylic (3 syllables) : Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed • E.g. “beau-ti-ful,” “Sa-tur-day”

  6. Number of Feet and the Meter • As mentioned above, meter of a line also depends on the number of feet in the line. • When there is only one foot in the line: Monometer • Two feet: Dimeter • Three feet: Trimeter • Four feet: Tetrameter • Five feet: Pentameter • And so on..

  7. Conclusion • Meter is determined by… • The type of feet in the line • The number of feet in the line • E.g. If a line contains three feet that are made up of two stressed syllables, the meter of such line is Spondaic Trimeter.

  8. Thank You

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