Poetic Meter

1. Poetic Meter

2. Meter: Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables • The basic unit of meter is a foot. A foot is a unit of meter that consists of a combination of two or more stressed or unstressed syllables. When analyzing poetry, a stressed syllable is marked as (/) and an unstressed syllable is marked as ( or ^). • Most common feet in English poetry: Iamb  /Dactyl /   Trochee / Spondee / / Anapest   / Note that these feet contain either 2 or 3 syllables

3.  / Iambic  /  /   /  / I askedmy mo·ther forfif·ty cents  /  /  / x /  / To see the el·e·phantjump thefence • /  /  /  / He jumped sohigh, he touched the sky  /  /  /   /   / And hedidnot come back ‘til theFourth of Ju·ly

4. Trochaic/  (Tro-kay-ik) /  /  /  /  /  / Pe·ter Pi·per picked a peck ofpick·led pep·pers x /  /  /  /  /  /  If Pe·ter Pi·per picked apeck ofpick·led pep·pers /  /  /  / Where’s thepeck of pick·led pep·pers  /  /  /(iambic) That Pe·ter Pi·per picked?

5. Anapestic  /  /   /   / There was an old man in a tree •  /   /   / Who was hor·rib·ly bored by abee   /   / When they said, "Does itbuzz?“   /   / He re·plied, "Yes, itdoes!   /   /   / It's a reg·u·lar brute of a bee!" Edward Lear

6. /   Dactylic (po·e·try) /   /   /   /   /   /  This is the forest prim·eval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, /   /   /   /   Picture your self in a boat on a river with /   /   /   /   tangerine tree-ees and marmaladeskii-ii-es. dactylic hexameter: Longfellow, Evangeline Dactylic tetrameter ¾ time: The Beatles, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds “

7. Spondaic/ /(Rarely an entire line of poetry) / / /   / See Saw, Margery Daw / / / / I scream. You scream. /  /  /  We all scream for ice cream From the bells, bells, bells, bells,Bells, bells, bells -From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. -- E.A. Poe

8. Metrical Lines • One footmonometer • Two feetdimeter • Three feettrimeter • Four feettetrameter • Five feetpentameter (iambic pentameter) • Six feet hexameter (dactylic hexameter) • Seven feetheptameter • Eight feetoctameter

9. 2 line stanzas: couplets 3 line stanzas: tercets triplets:aaa bbb ccc ddd terza rima:aba bcb cdc ded 4 line stanzas: quatrains 5 line stanzas: quintets 6 line stanzas: sestets 7 line stanzas: septets 8 line stanzas: octaves Stanzas

10. How do I figure out the meter of a poem?

11. Basic Background… • Every word has syllables and particular emphasis when the word is pronounced • Dictionary Example: emphasis = \ˈem(p)-fə-səs\ syllable = \ˈsi-lə-bəl\ • In dictionaries, the ` symbol marks which syllable is stressed in a word’s pronunciation

12. 3 Steps for Determining Poetic Meter in Poetic Lines • Count & number the syllables in a poetic line. • Find words that are poly/multisyllabic (more than one). • Check for patterns to determine the stress pattern Note: If necessary, you can use a dictionary to find out which syllable is stressed in particular poly/multisyllabic words

13. 1). Number the syllables Blake, “The Tyger” Tyger, tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night

14. Blake, “The Tyger” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tyger, tyger, burning bright 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 In the forests of the night

15. 2). Decide how many syllables belong in one poetic foot of the poem. Tip: Look for multisyllabic words, noting where their syllables would be stressed. Blake, “The Tyger” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tyger, tyger, burning bright 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 In the forests of the night

16. Blake, “The Tyger” /  /  /  Tyger, tyger, burning bright /  In the forests of the night

17. Let’s check for patterns. • The feet of this poem have 2 syllables (based on the multisyllabic words) • The multisyllabic words all follow the structure of starting with a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable (What type is this?) • In both lines of the poem, there are 7 syllables, which equals 4 separate feet. (What type of metrical line has 4 feet?) • NOTE: When there’s an odd number, the last foot is considered catalectic, which means incomplete. It still counts as a foot.

18. So what do we have? Trochaic (Stress unstressed) Tetrameter (4 feet per line) /  /  /  / Tyger, | tyger, | burning | bright /  /  /  / In the | forests | of the | night

19. Example Line of Poetry # 2 And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea • Number the syllables • Decide if the poetic foot is two or three syllables • Look for patterns; determine the stress pattern

20. Problems! • 12 syllables are divisible by either 2 or 3, so how do we find out how many syllables are in one foot of this poem? • There are no multisyllabic words to give us clues! STRATEGY: Test the pattern aloud.

21. And the | sheen of | their spears |was like| stars on| the sea| -OR- And the sheen | of their spears | was like stars | on the sea| Determine the poetic feet & where the syllables should be stressed

22. So, what is the type of foot? What is the type of metrical line?   / And the sheen |   / of their spears |   / was like stars |   / on the sea|

23. Unstressed, unstressed, stressed = •  / anapestic • 4 feet = • tetrameter   / And the sheen |   / of their spears |   / was like stars |   / on the sea|

24. Example Line of Poetry # 3 Half a league, half a league, half a league onward • Number the syllables • Decide if the poetic foot is two or three syllables • Look for patterns; determine the stress pattern

25. Dactyl (/  ) Tetrameter /   Half a league, | /   half a league, | /   /  half a league | onward Note: Onward is incomplete, but is still a foot (catalectic)