What is Rhythm?

• Rhythm is the pattern of stresses within a line

of verse.
• All spoken word has a rhythm formed by
stressed and unstressed Syllables.
• When you write words in a sentence you will
notice patterns forming
 What is Rhythm….?
• Rhythm in poetry can be thought of as the beat
or the flow of a poem.
• It is made up of beat and repetition so it
usually refers to features of sound.
• It is created by stressed and unstressed
syllables in a line or a verse.
 What is Rhythm…..?
• Although poetry is very much up to individual
interpretation when it comes to style and rhyme,
rhythm is really important.
• Prose can have a sense of rhythm but to much less
of an extent and this is what makes poetry unique.
• There are poems that don't have an obvious
rhythm.
• These types of poems are known as "free verse."
 What is Rhythm….?
• The pattern of the words that make poems fun
to say and easy to remember are not there by
accident.
• Poets arrange their words in a certain way to
create these patterns.
• It might be simple or more complex depending
on the poet and the poem.
 How is rhythm created?
1. Using syllables

• Rhythm is often created through the use of

syllables.
• When we speak, we naturally emphasize some
syllables over others.
• Longer syllables are known as "stressed"
syllables and shorter ones are "unstressed".
 For example
• The word "review" can be split into "re" and
"view". We emphasize the second syllable, the
"view" part when we speak. This means "view" is
stressed.
• These natural stresses are used by poets to help
form this rhythm almost like a beat in music.
• If you put a word in a sentence and read it out
loud, you can see which words are stressed more
easily.
 Meter in poem
• Meter is a regular pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables that defines the rhythm of
some poetry.
• These stress patterns are defined in groupings,
called feet, of two or three syllables.
• A pattern of unstressed-stressed, for instance,
is a foot called an iamb.
 Meter in poem….
• The type and number of repeating feet in each
line of poetry define that line's meter.
• For example, iambic pentameter is a type of
meter that contains five iambs per line (thus
the prefix “penta,” which means five).
 Meter in poem…..
• Poetic meter refers to “the number of feet used
in each line.”
• The names of poetic meters use Greek prefixes
to show how many feet are in each line.
• For instance, a poem with four poetic feet per
line is written in tetrameter (the Greek
word tetra means “four”).
 Types of meter
1. Iambic: contains one unstressed and one
stressed syllable.
2. Trochaic: contains one stressed and one
unstressed syllable. 
3. Anapestic: consists of three beats, two
unstressed and one stressed.
4. Dactylic: consists of three beats, one stressed
and two unstressed.
 Types of meter….
• In a trochee, you stress the first syllable and
unstress the second (so DUM-da), as in the
name Adam.
• There are also poetic feet that have three
syllables.
• The two most common three-syllable poetic
feet are the anapest and the dactyl.
 Types of meter…
• Iambs (unstressed-stressed)
• Trochees (stressed-unstressed)
• Dactyls (stressed-unstressed-unstressed)
• Anapests (unstressed-unstressed-stressed)
 Types of meter….
• In an anapest, the first two syllables are
unstressed and the final syllable of the foot is
stressed (da-da-DUM).
• An example is the word overcome.
• A dactyl is the opposite, with the first syllable
stressed and the other two unstressed.
So, DUM-da-da.
 What is iambic pentameter?

• The most common poetic meter in English poetry

is iambic pentameter, which uses five iambs per
line.
• One of the main places you’ll see it is in the
sonnet. 
• Sonnets consist of 14 lines following a very
specific rhyme scheme.
• Much of William Shakespeare’s work is written
in iambic pentameter. 
 What is iambic pentameter….?
• Blank verse is the name for poems that are
written in iambic pentameter but have no rhyme
scheme.
• Iambic meter reflects the natural sound of the
English language, where stressed and unstressed
syllables often alternate.
• Because of this, the work of Shakespeare and
others who write in iambic pentameter feels
both natural and lyrical at the same time.
 Foot
• The basic unit of measurement of accentual-
syllabic meter.
• A foot usually contains one stressed syllable
and at least one unstressed syllable.
• The standard types of feet in English poetry
are the iamb, trochee, and dactyl, anapest.
 Foot….
• A poetic foot is “a unit of stressed and unstressed syllables in
a line of poetry.”
• Poetic feet are based on the number of syllables in each foot.
• Two of the most common feet in English poetry are
the iamb and the trochee.
• Both are made up of just two syllables.
• Iamb is pronounced like I am, and trochee rhymes
with pokey.
• The difference between them lies in which syllables are
stressed.
 Foot….
• In an iamb, the first syllable is unstressed and
the second is stressed.
• It sounds like da-DUM.
• Think of the word display
 Most common feet…
• The most common number of feet found in
lines of poetry are:
1. Monometer (one foot)
2. Dimeter (two feet)
3. Trimeter (three feet)
4. Tetrameter (four feet)
5. Pentameter (five feet)
6. Hexameter (six feet)
 Most common feet…
• The name of a meter is based on the foot it uses
(stated as an adjective, with an "–ic" at the end),
and the number of feet in the line.
• So a line with four dactyls would be "dactylic
tetrameter."
• Note that the total number of syllables can be
different even for lines that have the same
number of feet, because some feet have two
syllables while others have three.
 Most common feet…
• A line of iambic pentameter has 10 syllables,
because it has five iambs, each of which have
two syllables.
• Dactylic pentameter has 15 syllables, because
it has five dactyls, each of which has three
syllables.