How to Scan a Poem

Scanning a poem does not mean placing it on a scanner and hitting “OK.” Scanning a poem is a way to break it down into pairs of syllables, or “feet,” and mark the stressed and unstressed syllables. Mostly used for sonnets or other verse written in iambic pentameter, attempting to scan free verse may give you a major headache. Instead, break out some old English verse and scan a poem.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Poem
• Pen
• Patience

1. Break the poem down into pairs of syllables, also known as “feet.” For example, the line: “My love for you grows stronger every day” would break down into “My love / for you / grows strong / er ev / ‘ry day.” Please note: words with very weak syllables, like “every,” may lose a syllable to become “ev’ry.”

2. Place an accent mark over each syllable within each foot of the poem. A “smiley face” looking symbol goes over the unstressed syllable while a back slash looking symbol goes over the stressed syllable. Thus our line: “My love / for you / grows strong / er ev / ‘ry day” would break down into the following: “Unstressed stressed / unstressed stressed / unstressed stressed / unstressed stressed / unstressed stressed.”

3. Learn the feet names. A foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, such as the entire line of our example above, is called an iamb. A foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable is called a troche. A foot with two unstressed syllables is called a pyrrhic foot and a foot with two stressed syllables is called a spondee.

4. Find a few more sonnets or English poetry written prior to the 19th century and have some fun.

Tips & Warnings

• Learning the basics of all types of poetry will help you become a better poet, or overall writer, yourself.
• You can have extra fun by attempting to use the word “spondee” in daily conversation.
• Don’t ask yourself why you would ever need to know such stuff. Just break out a napkin and a piece of poetry at the next party and you’ll be the hit of the fete.
• Don’t lose your own style or sense of rhythm, but do keep some of the master’s techniques in mind next time you pen a poem.
• Don’t sit around wondering if this will ever serve any purpose in your life. Just think how much more fun this is than calculus.