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by Jay O'Toole

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Feb 18, 2019 at 4:59pm

#3250658

DISCUSSION: Measuring the line

by Dave

In order to analyze the rhythm of a poem, we need some method to measure the movement of language across the page. 'Meter' is the term used for such measurement in poetry. There are several ways to measure the length of a line:

1. Number of words.

Our Great American Democracy
by
D. R. Schneider

Bitter rivals debate.
Talking heads interpret for us.
Then we vote.

This particular form is known as the Collum Lune, with three lines consisting of three, five, and three words respectively.

2. Number of syllables. French and Japanese poems are commonly measured in units of sound, or syllables, as are some twentieth-century English and American poetry forms.

Trust (E)

When the going gets rough.

#1246487 by Dave

This form is known as the Etheree, with ten lines progressing in syllables from one through ten for each line in order.

3. Number of accents. Anglo-Saxon verse, nursery rhymes, and some contemporary poems count accents in each line, regardless of the number of syllables.

	So we'll go no more a-roving
	  So late into the night,
	Though the heart be still as loving
	  And the moon be still as bright.

	~from 'So We'll Go No More A-Roving
	by George Gordon, Lord Byron

4. Number of syllables with a particular stress pattern, known as accentual syllabic meter. These are commonly used in English language poems and grouped according to specific patterns. Each unit of the pattern is defined as a metric foot. A few of the most common patterns are defined below:

S = relatively accented or stressed syllable
u = relatively unstressed syllable

Foot		Name
uS		iamb (iambic meter)
Su		trochee (trochaic meter)
uuS		anapest (anapestic meter)
Suu		dactyl (dactylic meter)
SS		spondee (spondaic meter)
uu		pyrrhic
SuS		amphimacer or cretic
uSu		amphibrach
uuSS		minor ionic (pyrrhic + spondee)
SSuu		major ionic (spondee + pyrrhic)

Here is an example of iambic meter:

	Hypocrisy exists on many planes.
	Behind the mask, manipulation reigns,
	disguising bad behavior with pretense
	of feigned distress without due consequence.

	~from 'Behind the Mask'
	by D. R. Schneider

5. Length of syllables. Sometimes called 'quantitative' meter and used in ancient Greek and Latin poetry, this measure is based on the duration of vowels and consonants. 'Fun' and 'hit' would be examples of short syllables, while 'stretch,' 'thrown,' and 'mourn' would be long.

Using Greek prefixes to identify the number of feet in each line, we arrive at the following definitions:

Monometer = 1 foot
Dimeter = 2 feet
Trimeter = 3 feet
Tetrameter = 4 feet
Pentameter = 5 feet
Hexameter = 6 feet
Heptameter = 7 feet
Octameter = 8 feet

As with rhymes, the metrical pattern can be used in a consistent motif, such as the English sonnet which uses iambic pentameter throughout, or intermixed to create a sense of tension between form and content within the poem. It is that tension that produces excitement and beauty in art.

We can visualize the poet's technique better by marking the rhythms in a process known as scansion, or scanning:

Hy-POC/-ri-SY/ ex-ISTS/ on MAN/-y PLANES/

Thus, you can plainly see the iambic pattern with five feet of meter, making it iambic pentameter.

ASSIGNMENT:

A. Scan this poem and identify the meter used: