Literary/Poetic Terms

Rhythm and

Meter

scansion

• the scanning of verse, that is, dividing it into metrical feet and identifying its rhythm by encoding stressed syllables (stresses, ictus) and unstressed syllables (slacks).

meter

• meter = “measure”• A section of rhythm, just like a measure in

music

quantitative meter

• Meter that relies not on the alternation of heavily stressed or lightly stressed syllables, but rather on the alternation of "long syllables" and "short syllables“

• Common in Latin and Greek but not so much in English.

syllabic meter

• Counts the number of syllables in a line

syllabic meter

You must scratch me there! Yes, above my tail! Behold,

elevator butt.

stress

• A multi-syllable word has a prominent syllable. This is called a stressed syllable.

• Stressed syllable is longer in duration, higher in pitch, and louder in volume.

stress

. • . • .con.tin.u.a.tion

. • .con.tin.ue

. . •un.der.stand

• . .beau.ti.ful

• .tea.cher

patternword

accentual meter

• counts the accented syllables

accentual-syllabic meter

• accentual-syllabic meter counts both the number of syllables and the number of accented syllables

So what is iambic pentameter?

• iamb + ic• penta + meter

• meter = measure• penta = five• ic = ish• iamb = ?

metrical feet

• a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a segment (measure) of poetry

• foot = 1 measure

4 kinds of feet

1. Iamb2. Trochee3. Anapest4. Dactyl● And

Spondee!

iamb

unstressed + stressed

How do I remember iamb?

You are not serious. I AMb!

iambic pentameter

1 2 3 54

iambic pentameter

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

When you end on a stress,the listener hangs on that syllable waiting hear what you will say next.

In drama, this drives the dialogue forward.

trochee

• A foot with one accented syllable followed by one unaccented syllable.

• Stressed + unstressed

• It is the opposite of the iambic foot.

How do I remember trochee?

TRO chee

anapest

• anapestic foot• A three syllable foot made of two

unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable.

• Unstressed + unstressed + stressed• The word "comprehend," pronounced

"com - pre - HEND," is a good example.

How do I remember anapest?

a na PEST

dactyl

• dactyl = finger, toe• A three syllable foot

which is accented on the first syllable

• Stressed + unstressed + unstressed

• An example of this would be the word "merrily," which is spoken: MER - ri - ly

How do I remember dactyl?

dactyl

ONE – two – three

ONE – two – three

ONE – two – three

spondee

• In poetry, a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables. This makes it a unique type of meter in English verse as all the other metric forms contain no more than one long syllable.

• It is difficult to construct a whole, serious poem with spondees. Consequently, spondees mainly occur as variants in other metrical patterns.

Wait! What was that spondee thing?

Spondee: • a metrical foot consisting of two accented

syllables / ' ' /. • An example of a spondaic word is "hog-

wild."

monometer (1)

• mono = one• In poetry, a

monometer is a line of verse with just one metrical foot

monometer (1)

Thus IPasse by,And die:As one,Unknown,And gone.

- Robert Herrick

dimeter (2)

• di = two • In poetry, a dimeter

is a metrical line of verse with two feet.

trimeter (3)

• tri = 3• In poetry, a trimeter is a meter of three

metrical feet per line.

tetrameter (4)

• In poetry, a trimeter is a meter of four metrical feet per line.

pentameter (5)

• In poetry, a trimeter is a meter of five metrical feet per line.

hexameter (6)

• In poetry, a trimeter is a meter of six metrical feet per line.

heptameter (7)

• In poetry, a trimeter is a meter of seven metrical feet per line.

heptameter

• An example from Lord Byron's Youth and Age:

'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruin'd turret wreathe, All green and wildly fresh without, but worn and gray

beneath. O could I feel as I have felt, or be what I have been, Or weep as I could once have wept o'er many a

vanish'd scene,- As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish

though they be, So midst the wither'd waste of life, those tears would

flow to me!

iambic pentameter

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

When you end on a stress,the listener hangs on that syllable waiting hear what you will say next.

In drama, this drives the dialogue forward.

end-stopped line

• a verse line ending at a grammatical boundary or break, such as a dash, a closing parenthesis, or punctuation such as a colon, a semi-colon, or a period.

• The opposite to an end-stopped line is a line subject to enjambement.

enjambment (run-on line)

• the running over of a sentence or phrase from one verse to the next, without terminal punctuation, hence not end-stopped.

• Such verses can be called run-on lines.

caesura

• a stop or pause within a metrical line, often marked by punctuation or by a grammatical boundary, such as a phrase or clause.

• When a caesura splits the line in equal parts, it is termed medial.

• When the pause occurs towards the beginning or end of the line, it is termed, respectively, initial and terminal.

catalexis

• A catalectic line is metrically incomplete, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot

scansion

• unstressed syllable:• stressed syllable: • double-stressed syllables: • hovering stress: • separate metrical feet: • a cæsura:

iambic pentameter

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

When you end on a stress,the listener hangs on that syllable waiting hear what you will say next.

In drama, this drives the dialogue forward.

Questions?