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Rhythm Rhythm (or “measure”) in writing is like the beat in music. In poetry, rhythm implies that certain words are produced more forcefully than others, and may be held for longer duration. The repetition of a pattern of such emphasis is what produces a “rhythmic effect.” The word rhythm comes from the Greek, meaning “measured motion.”
What is a “foot” in poetry? A unit of rhythm is called a “foot” in poetry. Now we’re going to look at the different types of metrical feet in poetry.
Stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables English poetry employs five basic rhythms of varying stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables. The meters are iambs, trochees, spondees, anapests and dactyls. In the next few slides the stressed syllables are underlined rather than the traditional “/” and “x.”
Iamb The iamb consists of two syllables, and only the second is accented. Iambic (x /) Example: Good-bye “That time of year thou mayst in me behold.”
Trochee The trochee consists of two syllables, only the first is accented. Trochaic (/ x) Example: Awful “Tell me not in mournful numbers.”
Spondee The spondee consists of two consecutive syllables that are both stressed. Spondaic (/ /) Example: Big deal “Break, break, break/ On thy coldgraystones, O Sea!”
Anapest The anapest is three syllables with only the third stressed. Anapestic (x x /) Example: Halloween “And the sound of a voice that is still.”
Dactyl The dactyl consists of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed. Dactylic (/ x x) Example: Wonderful “This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlock (a trochee replaces the final dactyl).”
Most American poets in the past thirty years have written poetry using everyday language, and because much American speech is iambic in pattern, the poetry shows a lot of iambic rhythm.
Review Time!!! • Identify the following types of metrical feet. We will review the answers as a class in 2 minutes. • 2 syllables, 2nd stressed • 2 syllables, 1st stressed • 2 consecutive syllables, both stressed • 3 syllables, 3rd stressed • 3 syllables, 1 stressed followed by 2 unstressed
Check your answers! a. Iamb b. trochee c. spondee d. anapest e. dactyl
Meter The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the rhythm of accented (or stressed) syllables.
We will study four main types of meter. Examples from poems for each will be in iambic (the most common) form.
Trimeter Three sets of metrical feet Example: (iambic trimeter) Excerpt from “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke “The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy.”
Tetrameter Four sets of metrical feet Example: (iambic tetrameter) Excerpt from “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell“Had we but world enough, and time,This coyness, Lady, were no crimeWe would sit down and think which wayTo walk and pass our long love's day.”
Pentameter Five sets of metrical feet Example: (iambic pentameter) Excerpt from “Sonnet 128” (Addressed to the Dark Lady) by Shakespeare “How oft, when thou, my music, music play'st, Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds With thy sweet fingers, when thou gently sway'st The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,”
Hexameter Six sets of metrical feet Example: (iambic hexameter) • Michael Drayton's Poly-Olbion (1612) : • Nor a| ny o |therwold | like Cots | wolde | ver sped, So rich | and fair | a vale | in for | tuning | to wed.
Review Time!!!! • Identify the following types of meter. We will review the answers as a class in 2 minutes. • 3 sets of metrical feet • 4 sets of metrical feet • 5 sets of metrical feet • 6 sets of metrical feet
Check your answers! • trimeter • tetrameter • pentameter • hexameter
