Poetry Rhythm & Meter
A poem is classified by both its rhythm and meter. To analyze a poem's rhythm and meter, lines of poetry are broken into feet. The rhythm and meter of poetry also define the cadence used when reading a poem aloud.
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Foot
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A foot is a unit of meter that consists of a combination of two or more stressed or unstressed syllables. When analyzing poetry, a stressed syllable is marked as (/) and an unstressed syllable is marked as (^).
Meter
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Meter measures the audible features of poetry, and is described as the sequence of feet in a line. English poetry has five basic classifications of meters:
Iambic: unstressed+stressed (^/)
Trochaic: stressed+unstressed (/^)
Spondaic: stressed+stressed (//)
Anapestic: unstressed+unstressed+stressed (^^/)
Dactylic: stressed+unstressed+unstressed (/^^)Poetry meter additionally refers to the number of feet present in each line:
Monometer: one foot
Dimeter: two feet
Trimeter: three feet
Tetrameter: four feet
Pentameter: five feet
Hexameter: six feet -
Rhythm
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Poetry rhythm is the pattern associated with stressed and unstressed syllables in a line, and defines the cadence used when the poem is read aloud.
Scansion
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Scansion is a method of describing the rhythm and meter of poetry by counting syllables, marking the locations of stressed and unstressed syllables, and dividing each line of poetry into feet.
Rising Meter And Falling Meter
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Rising meter is a term used to define the movement of unstressed to stressed syllables in a single foot. Falling meter is a term used to define the movement from stressed to unstressed syllables in a single foot. Iambic is a rising meter, trochaic is a falling meter.
Classification
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A poem is classified by its rhythm and meter. The repetition of a two syllable iambic foot in a five-meter line classifies a poem's rhythm and meter as being iambic pentameter. The repetition of a three syllable anapest in a three-meter line classifies a poem's rhythm and meter as being anapestic trimeter.
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References
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