How to Understand Meter in Poetry

Meter helps you to give rhyme a reason.

Meter in poetry is a way of measuring and defining rhythm. Think about the rhythm of speech, the way that we stress and accentuate particular parts of our speech for meaning and effect. Look at advertising and the way it uses as few words as possible to grab our attention. Those words may or not use tricks such as rhyme and alliteration. The same applies to newspaper headlines, particularly those of the tabloid press, politicians’ sound bites and, of course, songs and poetry.

Instructions

1. Count the number of syllables per line to find a poem's rhythm. Tap your foot or your finger or nod your head--whichever method is comfortable--each time you read a new syllable.

2. Stress the syllables that convey the meaning. They are often arranged into unstressed and stressed pairings called feet. This is also called an iamb. Usually, a reader should stress the even syllables.

3. Tap out the rhythm following the syllables with a stronger tap or nod for the stressed syllable. An example is: tap-TAP, tap-TAP, tap-TAP, tap-TAP, tap-TAP.

4. Take the time for the rhyme. The poet probably meant for the verse to be read aloud. So that rhyming end to each line is the flourish that helps you maintain a suitable rhythm.

5. Settle into a suitable pace for the piece. The rhythm will change as the emotions of the piece ebb and flow, but the meter probably will remain the same.

6. Make the poem your own. Experiment with the meter until you find the rhythm that works for you and your understanding of the piece.

References

• "Introducing Literary Studies;" Richard Bradford; 1996