Poetry Meter
August 4, 2008
All of the information below can be found on pages 159-60 in The Making of a Poem by Strand and Boland.
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I: Types of Meter
1. Meter is the Greek word for ‘measure.’
2. There are three meters most commonly used by poets in the English language– they are accentual, syllabic, and accentual-syllabic.
3. In accentual meter the stresses are counted and the syllables are variable.
4. In syllabic meter the syllables are counted but the stresses are varied.
5. In accentual-syllabic meter both accents and syllables are measured and counted.
6. In English, one tradition established its dominance: the accentual-syllabic meter.
II: The Character of Different Types of Meter
1. Accentual meter is often called ’stress’ meter or ’strong stress meter.’ Its origins lie far back in English poetry.
2. Accentual meter is common in the ballad and the nursery rhyme. It is heavily stressed and clearly heard when the poem is read.
3. Syllabic meters, on the other hand, are not easily heard. Because they count syllables, their force is most easily seen on the page: Syllabics are essentially a visual contract with the reader.
4. In accentual-syllabic meters–the combination of these–both syllables and accents are measured and counted and are often referred to as ‘feet.’
5. These ‘feet’ are patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. The variations, pauses, musical effects, and dissonances within the accentual-syllabic line are where much of the force and power of meter occurs.
III: Definitions Of The Most Common ‘FEET’ In Accentual-Syllabic Meter
1. A poetic foot is a measured unit of meter, made up of stressed and unstressed syllables.
2. The iamb is the most common foot. It is a short stress followed by a long one. And example is about.
3. A trochee is a less commonly used foot. It is a long stress followed by a short one. An example is That is. Or dropsy.
4. A dactyl is a long stress followed by two shore ones. An example is happily.
5. An anapest is two short stressed followed by a long one. An example is in a tree.
6. A spondee is two long stresses. An example is humdrum.
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