Meter and Rhythm

1. Meter and Rhythm Annotations, Pages 27-34

2. Meter The arrangement of words in a poem based on the relative stress of their syllables: Da-Dum, Da-Dum, Da-Dum, Da-Dum (Iambic Tetrameter)

3. Rhythm • The recurrent alteration of pronounced and softer elements in a line • Generally less specific when applied to poetry • All poems have some kind of rhythm, although that rhythm may be closer to free jazz than to the classical precision suggested by meter.. • Robert Pinksy (Poet): • “Rhythm is the sound of an actual line, while meter is the abstract pattern behind the rhythm.” • If something feels “off” about a poem, chance are that the “meter” is irregular.

4. Scansion • The process of counting the number of stressed and unstressed syllables and analyzing their patters • A decidedly inexact science • Brings some order to poetry • You will be more concerned with syllables than words • “Foot” — the basic metrical unit in poetry • Typically consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables • Iamb (iambic): _ / • Trochee (trochaic): / _ • Anapest (anapestic): _ _ /