Meter Definition

Meter is the rhythm within a poem

What is syllables

• The natural division of a word is called syllables

OR
• The smallest unit of pronunciation
What is stress

• It is the emphasis that we put on a particular syllable

What is a foot

• Foot is the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables

 Meter:

• Meter refers to the rhythm of the poem that is used to keep pace.

• Meter is the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables to occur at

apparently equal intervals

• The study and use of meter in poetry is known as "prosody.“

• A poem can use a single meter throughout, or it can have different meters
in different places. Meter can be analyzed on the level of a whole poem, a
stanza, a line, or even a single foot.
Meter consists of two components:

• 1. The number of syllables

• 2. A pattern of emphasis on those syllables

 Types of Poetic Meter

• The most common feet found in metered poetry are:

• Iambs (unstressed-stressed)

• Trochee (stressed-unstressed)

• Spondee (stressed-stressed)

• Pyrrhic (unstressed-unstressed)
EXAMPLES

• The meters with two-syllable feet are

• IAMBIC (x /) : That time of year thou mayst in me behold

• TROCHAIC (/ x): Tell me not in mournful numbers

• SPONDAIC (/ /): Break, break, break/ On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
• Meters with three-syllable feet are

• ANAPESTIC (x x /): And the sound of a voice that is still

• DACTYLIC (/ x x): This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and
the hemlock (a trochee replaces the final dactyl)
• Here are some more serious examples of the various meters.
• iambic pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables)
• That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold
• trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables)
• Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers
• anapestic trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables)
• And the sound | of a voice | that is still
• dactylic hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; a trochee replaces the
last dactyl)
• This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the
| hemlocks
The most common number of feet found in lines of poetry are:

• Monometer (one foot)

• Dimeter (two feet)

• Trimeter (three feet)

• Tetrameter (four feet)

• Pentameter (five feet)

• Hexameter (six feet)

Metered Poetry

• Many poems include meter, but not all do. In fact, poetry can be broken
down into three types, based on whether it includes meter and rhyme. The
three main types of poetry are:

• Formal verse: Poetry that has both a strict meter and rhyme scheme.
• Blank verse: Poetry that has a strict meter, but doesn't have a rhyme
scheme.
• Free verse: Poetry that has neither any strict meter or rhyme scheme.

Free verse is a popular style of modern poetry, and as its name suggests there is a
fair amount of freedom when it comes to writing a poem like this. Free verse can
rhyme or not, it can have as many lines or stanzas as the poet wants, and it can be
about anything you like! So, while free verse may sound simple enough, the lack
of rules makes this form of poetry tricky to master!
Kinds of poetry

• Two major kinds;

1. Subjective poetry
Which includes elegy, ode, sonnet

2. Objective poetry
Which includes ballad, epic, idyll
 Subjective/ Lyric Poetry

• The term lyric poetry houses a broad category of poetry that centers around
feelings and emotions. These poems are often short and expressive and tend to
have a songlike quality to them. They can use rhyming verse, or free form. Lyric
poetry differs from epic and narrative poetry as the focus is on a feeling rather
than a story. Emily Dickinson’s The Heart Asks Pleasure First and her Because I
could not stop for Death are both strong examples of lyric poetry.
 1. Sonnet

• This very old form of poetry was made famous by none other than William Shakespeare,
but the sonnet actually originated in 13th century Italy where it was perfected by the poet
Petrarch. The word ‘sonnet’ is derived from the Italian word ‘sonnetto’ which means
‘little song’. Traditionally, sonnets are made up of 14 lines and usually deal with love. As
a rule, Petrarchan (Italian) sonnets follow an ABBA ABBA CDE CDE rhyme scheme,
whereas Shakespearean (English) sonnets are typically ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. But of
course, rules are made to be broken!
 2. Elegy

• An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament

for the dead and traditionally include a theme of mourning.

• An elegy, in poetic terms, is a funeral song. It can be thought of as a melancholy

poem, which is written to mourn the death of someone who is personal and close to
the heart. These poems reflect on death and loss. The first elegies were
written in Latin and Greek. Thomas Gray's "
An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" and "Reprisals" by W.B. Yeats are good
examples of elegies
• Elegies are generally written in quatrains
and in iambic pentameter, with an ABAB rhyme scheme. There is a strong
tradition of poets using the elegy in order to honor and pay respects to their
departed literary compatriots, such as in W.H. Auden’s poem In Memory of
W. B. Yeats, and adonais by P. B. Shelly
3. Ode

• The word "ode" comes from the Greek aeidein, meaning to sing or chant.

• Odes are one of the most well-known forms of poetry. They tend to
serve as a tribute to a subject. This subject can be a person or an
inanimate object, and the voice in the poem praises the subject in a
ceremonial manner. Odes are short lyric poems, which convey intense
emotions, and tend to follow traditional verse structure. They are
generally formal in tone. Romantic poet John Keats wrote several odes,
including Ode To a Nightingale. and Percy Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind"
Objective poetry

• Impersonal poetry in which the poet goes out of himself and deals
with the outside world with little references of his own personal
thoughts and emotions
 1. Epic

• The epic is a long, often book-length, narrative in verse form that

retells the heroic journey of a single person, or group of persons.
For example, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and the
Epic of Gilgamesh.
2. Ballad

• A ballad is a form of narrative verse, and its focus on storytelling can be musical or
poetic. Ballads typically follow the pattern of rhymed quatrains, which use a rhyme
scheme of ABAB or ABCB. Though this is often how they are structured, this is not
always the case, as the form is loose and can be altered. An example of a ballad is
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
3. Idylls

• a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic

life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and
contentment For instance, E.g. 'The Solitary Reaper' by
William Wordsworth is an idyll poem in which the speaker
describes a young woman in a Scottish valley who is singing while
reaping grain.