Introduction To Meter - Writers Forum

Jp · 11-15-2005, 04:19 PM

Introduction To Meter And Form

J. Phillip Van

In English verse the basic sound of a poem is derived directly from the number of stressed and unstressed syllables, counted or metered with what is call metrical feet. (Meter {from greek metron} means to measure, and denotes the rhythmical organization of verse lines.) Meter gives rhythm and regularity to poetry. When a poem is metrical -- and you know how to read it,-- the words will follow a beat without your having to do anything except pronounce clearly when reading aloud, at an even pace, following normal rules for pronunciation.

This musical effect is created by the utterance of words that are conforming to a more or less regular rhythm. A pattern which consists of an alternation of beat and offbeat (Stressed and unstressed syllables). Within any kind of meter the most basic unit of measurement is the syllable. Meter, then, is a regular, organized pattern of syllables, arranged in order to cause an utterance to conform to a musical beat. Any given metrical system will organize sounds according to a particular sounds features, such as the relative stress of syllables, the relative duration of syllables, their relative pitch, or the mere syllable itself, or a combination of features.

The most common meters are: iambic, dactylic, trochaic and anapestic. Other meters are occasionally used, such as spondaic and pyrrhic. There are also a number of classical Greek meters which are very rare, such as amphibrachic, amphimacer and choriambic.

"Foot" refers to the basic unit in which meter is measured; it is composed of a specific number of syllables arranged in a set pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
(R)“Iambic” refers to a specific pattern of syllables that alternates between a relatively lightly stressed syllable and relatively heavily stressed one. I.e. (unstressed STRESSED).
(F)“Dactylic” refers to a specific pattern of syllables that alternates between a relatively heavily stressed syllable and two relatively lightly stressed ones. I.e. (STRESSED unstressed unstressed).
(F)“Trochaic” refers to a specific pattern of syllables that alternates between a relatively heavily stressed syllable and a relatively lightly stressed one. I.e. (STRESSED unstressed).
(R)“Anapestic” refers to a specific pattern of syllables that alternates between two relatively unstressed syllables and one relatively lightly stressed syllables. I.e. (unstressed unstressed STRESSED).
(N)“Spondaic” The spondaic foot is almost strictly used as a substitution for other metrical feet within a line of verse. It refers to a specific pattern of syllables that alternate between two relatively stressed syllables. I.e. (STRESSED STRESSED).
(N)“Pyrrhic” The phyrric foot is used strictly as a substitution for other metrical feet within a line of verse. It refers to a specific pattern of syllables that alternate between two unstressed syllables. I.e. (unstressed unstressed).

Authors Note:

Quote:

Above I have denoted rising meters with (R) and falling meter with (F).

The basic rising meter are iambic, two feet, and anapestic, three feet. These metrical foots are the fundamental building blocks of our first topic.

Normative Iambic Meter

For anyone who is relatively new to metered poetry iambic meter should be mastered before beginning any other forms of normative meter. The only reason I make this claim is because the English language falls best into Iambs. Nevertheless, there are other meters, which we will go into at a later date.

NOW, before we precede the reader of this must first understand that normative meter can be used in any of the following line lengths and in numerous verse forms. In the first two of the following cases, it is unlikely for a poem to be written strictly as one or the other, although, the other six meters are used with regularity.

Number of beats per line:

“ Monometer and Dimeter” (One foot, two feet.) In the sentence “I left -- the store” the phase /i LEFT/ is one metrical foot, arranged as one unstressed word and one stressed word. However, the prepositional phase “the store” makes the line dimeter, so “I left” is monometer, and “I left the store” is dimeter.
“ Trimeter ” (Three feet.) In the sentence “we all had left the store” - we ALL - had LEFT - the STORE: all, left and store are the beats, while -we, had, & the -are the off-beats. Therefore, each beat marks the end of an Iambic metrical foot.
“Tetrameter” (Four feet.) In the line “we all had left the store to run” we now have added the phrase “to RUN,”which makes the line one more Iambic metrical foot longer. Hence, the line becomes tetrameter.
“Pentameter” (Five feet.) In the line “we all had left the store to run and play” we’ve added the phrase “and PLAY,”which makes the line one more Iambic metrical foot longer. Hence, the line becomes pentameter.
“Hexameter” (Six feet.) In the line “we all had left the store to run and play, but Mike” we’ve added the phrase “but MIKE,”which makes the line one more Iambic metrical foot longer. Hence, the line becomes hexameter.
“Heptameter” (Seven feet.) In the line “we all had left the store to run and play, but Mike was sick” we’ve added the phrase “was SICK,”which makes the line one more Iambic metrical foot longer. Hence, the line becomes heptameter.
"Octomerer" (Eight feet.) In the line “we all had left the store to run and play, but Mike was sick of rain” we’ve added the phrase “of RAIN,”which makes the line one more Iambic metrical foot longer. Hence, the line becomes octometer.

Authors Note:[quote]The above example consist purely of Iambs, however, there are ways that you can substitute the other metrical feet into a line and still have it remain iambic. There are some simple rules that you should follow when doing so, -- and as we will later see -- they make a lot of sense. [/qoute]

Now, we have seen the basic foundation of all lines, weather they happen to be short or long, within metrical verse. So, we can now begin by writing a line in Strict Iambic pentameter. I have chosen pentameter because it tends to fit well into the english language, but we could start with any line length. However, for our purposes here we will use a pentameter line.

In the first line of a “sonnet” one would set the metrical stage, if you will. Here in this section we will be examining the furthest extent you can manipulate the first line of a sonnet and still have it remain Iambic.

The Trochee Substitutions:

In the following examples bold print represents the trochiac feet.

A. 1st foot: When in the likes of troubled sleep I wake

/WHEN in/ the LIKES/ of TRUB/ led SLEEP/ I WAKE/

B. 2nd foot: To youth, when I believed I could distinguish

/To YOUTH/ WHEN i/ beLIEVED/ i Could/ disTING {uish} *

C. 3rd foot: Among the soft-dying of sweet summer poppies,

/aMONG/ the SOFT/-DYing/ of SWEET/ and COOL/

D. 4th foot: What multitude of words will I have lost

/WHAT mul/ tiTUDE/ of WORDS/ WILL i/ have LOST/

Authors Note:

Quote:

Notice that in the above examples of trochee substitutions, that I have not included an example for a substitution in the fifth foot. The reason being, there are some problems when substituting a trochee on the foot where the rhyme occurs, however, when writing blank verse (verse without rhyme) the trochee can be used.

Remember: you can substitute up to half of an iambic line, but what is important is that you never substitute more than half the feet. If you do, then, the Iambic meter is lost. Thus, it makes the line a different meter. ...

In Example D. of the last section you may have notice two trochiac feet, this is the subject for the current section.

A. 1st & 4th foot: What multitude of words will I have lost

/WHAT mul/ tiTUDE/ of WORDS/ WILL i/ have LOST/

Authors Note:

Quote:

If this line was to occur as the second line within the verse it would be fine as is. However, if it occurs as the first line the reader might read the line as trochaic, so try to avoid substitutions in the first foot of the first line.

B. 2nd, 3rd, & 4th foot: and what multitude of words do I have

/and WHAT/ MULti/ TUDE of /WORDS do/ i HAVE/

Authors Note:

Quote:

The example about represents the must trochaic substitutions you can make to an Iambic pentameter line. However the trochee is not the only foot that you can substitute into a strict Iambic line, as you will see in the following.

The spondee substitutions:

A. 1st foot: No more the multitude of word is locked

/NO MORE/ the mul/titude/ of wordS/ is locked/

B. 2nd foot: The whole earth sings the tunes of days and ways

/The WHOLE/ EARTH SINGS/ the TUNES/ of DAYS/ and WAYS/

C. 3rd foot: The last of them sang hymns, and the earth cried

/The LAST/ of THEM/ SANG HYMNS/ and the/ EARTH CRIED/

D. 4th foot: With tears of blues and greys far deeper still

/With TEARS/ or BLUES/ and GREYS/ FAR DEEP/ er STILL/

E. 5th foot: Than all the seas and lakes and their blue hues

/than ALL/ the SEAS/ and LAKES/ and Their/ SAD HUES/

Authors Note:

Quote:

Notice how in example A. The word multitude has fallen within the line, and how in the previous example it falls differently. ALL words can fall in any place within a line, but you cannot change their sound. However, there is a way to drop a syllable from a word, which we will go into later.

In the forth foot of example C. you may have notice that their are two soft syllables followed by two long syllables; these syllables are the topic of this next section.

The Double Iamb:

While the double Iamb IS NOT considered a substitution, it is the combination of two different metrical feet to make a new combination of sounds; and this new combination of sounds is formed from a pyrrhic foot followed by a spondee foot. The new double ionic foot is the topic of this section.

A. 1st/ 2nd feet: As the cold wind and rain within the storming

/As the/ COLD WIND/ and RAIN/ withIN/ the STORM/ {ing}*

B. 2rd/ 3rd feet: The rain in the park stopped to laugh at all

/The RAIN/ in the/ PARK STOPPED/ to LAUGH/ at ALL/

C 3rd/ 4th feet within the storming of all syllables

WithIN/ the STORM/ ing of/ ALL SYLL/ aBLES

D. 4th/ 5th feet The music waits to play, amd the muse sing

The MUS/ic WAITS/ to PLAY/ and the/ MUSES SING/

Now that we have worked out the basic substitutions we can create an Iambic line that has only one true iamb, but is still considered iambic.

The singular Iamb lines:

A. The Double Iamb in the 1st/2nd feet:

/In the/ COLD DEPTHS/ of MORN/ BURy/ THY BONES/
/pyrrhic/spondee/iamb/trochee/ spondee

B. The Double Iamb in the 2nd/3rd feet:

/And FLING/ them in/ LIKE OLD/ BITS of/ WHOLE BREAD/
/Iamb/pyrrhic/spondee/trochee/spondee

C. The double Iamb in the 3rd/ 4th foot:

/THROW them/ DOWN DOWN/ in the/ COLD PIT/ of MORN,/
/trochee/spondee/pyrrhic/spondee/Iamb/

Authors Note:

Quote:

Of coarse, you can flip the trochee and the spondee around, like so. However, if you are not careful the line can sound jumbled.
[i]D. With the spondee and trochee flipped:

/JUST DON’T/ LEAVE them/ to the/ FULL MOON,/ but THROW
/spondee/trochee/pyrrhic/spondee/iamb/
E. The double Iamb in the 4th/ 5th feet:

/THROW them/ SAD THINGS/ aWAY/ to the/ MORN’S COLD./
/trochee/spondee/Iamb/pyrrhic/spondee/[/b]

The Anapestic Substitution: (Avoid or use with caution)

The anapest can be substituted in strict Iambic pentameter in any foot besides the first of any line. However, it should be reserved for altering the meaning of metaphors, words and/ or phrases, because if it to used to frequently within the line -- or if used simply as any other foot is -- the reader might read the line as a different meter then you originally intended. I.e. Us as a modifier.

This is a complicated issue, given what it entails, but here are two examples. In the first example the anapestic foot is used simply as any other foot.

1a.
/ it's SLOW/ ing FING/ ures move ON/ but YOU/ FEEL LOST/
/ iamb/ iamb/ anapest/ iamb/ spondee/

If you read the line you will notice how it sounds as if the line is metered like this:
[i]1b.
/ it's SLOW/ ing FING/ ures MOVE/ ON but/ YOU FEEL/ LOST ??? /
/ iamb/ iamb/ iamb/ trochee/spondee----EXTRA???

That was an example of a poorly placed anapest with in strict Iambic pentameter, the following is a fair example of a properly place anapest within strict IP.
[i] 2.
/DOWN to/ the BROWN/i an MOVE/ meant of/ PAIL STREAMS/
/trochee/iamb/anapest/pyrric/spondee/

Here in the second example the anapestic foot relates directly to the man who discovered the random motion of molecules in liquid state elements. When the anapest is used like this the extra syllable leads the mind understanding the meaning. However, if it is not, it jumbles the lines up into unrecognizable feet.

There is one more substitution that is considered acceptable in strict Iambic peramiter; this is the headless Iamb. The acephalous will be our next topic, where the carrot denotes the missing syllable.

The Headless Iamb:

A.
/^ LEAP/ ing LIKE/ a CAT,/ but NEV/ er LAND/ ing RIGHT/

Authors Note:

Quote:

The acephalous should be used only after the first line, and only in the first foot of those lines. Try to avoid using to many of these, because they can easily be read as trochiac.

Hyper metrical unstressed syllables:

If you recall example A. in the section on double Iambs there was an extra syllable at the end of the line.

A. 1st/ 2nd feet: As the cold wind and rain within the heart

/As the/ COLD WIND/ and RAIN/ withIN/ the STORM/ {ing}*

Authors Note:

Quote:

The {bracketed} syllable above is considered acceptable in strict Iambic peramiter, However it should only be used at the end of lines, but can be used on any line within the verse.

In the above I have shown all of the accepted substitutions of non-iambic metrical feet into a strict Iambic line, and I have also shown; headless iambs, double Iambs, hyper metrical unstressed syllables, with their proper usage. Substitutions are not the only things that control the sound of a line of poetry; there is a few final things that we need to go over.

The Caesura

A masculine cæsura ( say: ZYUR ah) is one that occurs after a stressed syllable; a feminine cæsura follows an unstressed syllable. Cæsuraæ can occur in all forms of verse; in most, they are usually optional. However, this does not mean that you don't have to worry about their placement within the line. Considering the breaks within any given line will help the over all sound of your poetry; but moreover, they are something that naturally occurs in lines of about 8 syllables or longer.-- So, being aware of where the “rests” are within the line is just another way to control the sound, which intern works out to better poetry. In the following section I have shown the caesura with the symbol “||.”

In the following example Alexander Pope achieved a rhetorical quality the line with his use of the masculine caesura.

A.

“To err is human; || to forgive, divine.”

Usually the caesura that falls after full-stops (semicolons and periods) is more strongly pronounced than that of a caesura that falls after a comma or those that are marked by punctuation. You can also play with the caesura placement with the line: in the following example Pope achieved a greater emphasis on the rhyming position by placing the caesura just before the word “none.”
B.

“Tis with our judgments as our watches, || none”

Lines with multiple caesuras often convey a sense of broken & chaotic thoughts and/ or feeling, so be careful in lines with multiple comma if a chaotic nature is not intended. In the following Example Shakespeare shows how King Lear is emotionaly and mentaly broke by the death of his daughter, while rufusing to exept the fact that she is dead.
C.

“Never, || never, || never, || never, || never.”

On occason you will find a line that does not have a caesura; in the following is an example of this.
D.

The ten lowest of them went off in line

Enjambment:

"Enjambment" comes from a French word meaning to put one's leg across, or to step over, just as the sense of the line steps over the end of the line.*So, a line which does not end with a grammatical break, that is, where the line cannot stand alone, does not make sense without the following line being enjambed. --Which means: a line which does not have puntuaction mark must be followed with another line; this next line may or may not be enjambed itself, if it’s not enjamble than it is end stopped. End-stopped lines are lines in which the end of the line corrisponds with the end of a complete grammatical unit, a phase or a clause. When that occurs, because that what we do in every day speech at the end of a phas or clause, we pause slighly before going on to read the next line. In the following lines of my poem “With Troubled Sleep” I have marked the Enjambed lines with the symbol “~” and the end stopped lines with the symbol , “#.”

'To raise my head from the basement of time, #
Just as the cornerstone of all daybreak ~
Is slowly touched to Brownian lake rime, #
And I look t’ward a quarter where battlement ~
And breathless starlit air is still darkened ~
With the random movements - under the front ~
Of joyful human thought - and I harken ~
To youth, when I believed I could distinguish ~
That old ritual of Sato’s ancient art; #
The sword, the stiletto, and the yiddish: #'

Written by J..P.V
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creative
commons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ or send a letter to
Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor,
San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

mammamaia · 11-16-2005, 08:29 AM

i'm curious about that 'creative commons' stuff, jp... doesn't that term refer to being able to present others' work, as long as you properly cite the original author and/or source?... if so, is this then all your own work, or derived from someone else's?

in any case, although i saw some typos and misspellings needing attention, i'm sure some may find the basic info helpful... it was nice of you to post it...

love and hugs, maia

Jp · 11-16-2005, 12:04 PM

NOt quite mama... I have looked through tbere freqently asked questiona and found this:

Will Creative Commons give me permission to use a work?

The permission isn’t ours to give. Creative Commons simply makes available licenses and tools to enable creators and licensors to license their works on more flexible terms. By applying a Creative Commons license to a work, the creator or licensor has decided to clearly signal to members of the public, such as you, that you may use the work without having to ask for permission—provided that you use it consistent with the license terms.

HOWEVER, in my case what would be consisent with the licence are:

NoDerivatives=you may only make verbatim copies of the work, you may not adapt or change it.

--And yes I too think that someone will find this usefull.

Thanks,
JP

mammamaia · 11-16-2005, 01:27 PM

i'm still wondering if you originated all of that yourself, or are merely posting here what you found elsewhere...

Jp · 11-16-2005, 02:43 PM

Mama,

Come one: I would be honest enough to cite if it were not my own, beside that is a little beyond the point. What you are really wondering is why would I take the time to write it, right? Well, the answer is simple. If I write something out --check it as I go-- I remember the information that much better, and for that much longer.

I have been in the habit of typing things I learn up for years. I find that it helps me a lot, (as a recommendation to anyone who might have the same problem with recollection I recommend this method) and it seems to have worked. --But you are more than welcome to check around, and please tell me if you find any thing.

Honestly,
Jp

mammamaia · 11-16-2005, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Come one: I would be honest enough to cite if it were not my own, beside that is a little beyond the point.

...no, i wasn't questioning your honesty at all!... it was just that adding the info on creative commons was a bit confusing, making me wonder if you were posting your own painstaking work, or had found this useful info somewhere else and were posting it under the aegis of that whatever-it-is... i didn't see any need for the legal-sounding stuff, so was asking for clarification, only... no offense intended... sorry if you misunderstood...

Quote:

What you are really wondering is why would I take the time to write it, right?

...wrong... although, now that you mention it, it is a wonder to me that you would!... but, if that's what you like to do, it's nice that you share it, as i mentioned...

trustingly, maia

Jp · 11-16-2005, 03:02 PM

Ah, my apologies.

**Penelope** · 11-16-2005, 06:39 PM

While I admire you for taking such pains to write such a lengthy paper on such a topic, I found this to be a bit difficult to read and absorb. As you say, writing it all out helps you with your writing which is good but, for me the presentation could have been more engaging. I recognize most text of this nature is hard to slog through which is why I would hope for an easier read. I am so glad I didn't have to study such things to write poetry. The other issue I'm going to raise is that meter can alter depending on who is doing the reading. I've heard the same poem being read with differing emphasis due to the different interpretation. I tend to remind myself that only the author knows for sure where the emphasis lies.

I'm wondering why you used the word 'compleat' instead of complete here:

Quote:

End-stopped lines are lines in which the end of the line corrisponds with the end of a compleat gramatical unit, a phase or a clause.

I noticed it and went and looked up the word (as I'm prone to do) and discovered it was an archaic use of 'complete'. Am I missing some poetry pointer that I need to be aware of? I also noticed the improper spelling of corresponds. This raises another issue. I believe correct spelling of words is imperative, in such circumstances, for mistakes take away from the quality and undermine the author's 'voice' of distinction.

edit: oh, I just noticed, grammatical is spelled improperly too.

mammamaia · 11-16-2005, 06:43 PM

not to mention the missing 'm' in 'grammatical' and missing 'r' in what i must assume was meant to be 'phrase' and not 'phase'... i'm glad to see i wasn't the only one to notice goofs in this piece, pen... or, to mention same... i have to agree with you in that in writing a piece meant to educate or enlighten, one should hew to a high standard of technical perfection, if it's to be taken seriously...

Jp · 11-16-2005, 07:29 PM

Well, as this paper was written primarily for my own reflections I had choose to leave it as rough. However, I do see that such could be an issue, so I will go through and correct the mistakes. Nevertheless, before I do, I feel that the real importance here is that what said is correct, which it is, and thoroughly I believe. This is the thing, I have taken the time and allowed others the use of what other wisely would have been void from this site --that is, besides if the reader wanted to dig through dozens of papers by many authors-- so in a way is discouraging to see any one affiliated with the site make such a un-called for comment. Perhaps, it is lengthy, perhaps, it is boring, but that is not in question, and nor was such asked for. If I wanted to write in such a manner I would have... I was trying (fail as I might) to keep it as short as possible.

Edit: But thank you for taking the time.

**Penelope** · 11-16-2005, 07:49 PM

I'll have to admit getting totally bleary eyed any time I try to absorb the technical aspects of meter. I understand that you wrote it for your own reflections and am full of admiration for you for doing so. However, that being said, you have posted it here now for public consumption and comments as well as licensing it under 'creative commons' which is why I offered my humble input.

JustJim · 11-17-2005, 05:28 PM

Thanks for posting, I've been wanting something nice and concise on poetry mechanics.

I copied it into word and started it printing before checking the number of pages, though. MS Word spread it out to 44, which is a few more than I would have wanted. Unfortunately, short of turning off the printer I don't know how to stop it. I'm sitting here typing this and contemplating stealing all the paper from the paper tray before turning the machine off. I don't want a jam-up. Ah! It's running out of paper on it's own at page 33 at normative iambic pantameter. Then it wouldn't stop even then even though I kept turning it off. LOL. I finally unplugged it and now I'm going to turn my computer off.

JustJim · 11-17-2005, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustJim

Thanks for posting, I've been wanting something nice and concise on poetry mechanics.

I copied it into word and started it printing before checking the number of pages, though. MS Word spread it out to 44, which is a few more than I would have wanted. Unfortunately, short of turning off the printer I don't know how to stop it. I'm sitting here typing this and contemplating stealing all the paper from the paper tray before turning the machine off. I don't want a jam-up. Ah! It's running out of paper on it's own at page 33 at normative iambic pantameter. Then it wouldn't stop even then even though I kept turning it off. LOL. I finally unplugged it and now I'm going to turn my computer off.

So I unplugged my printer and shut the computer down. Then plugged the printer back in and reloaded the paper tray before going out.

When I came home I turned on the computer, the printer turned on by itself and with the complaint that I'd made it lose its place, started the whole printing job again from the beginning.

Question? Should I shoot it?

Jp · 11-17-2005, 09:58 PM

Well, the question is not that simple; you see, if it is a laser printer it still might be able to print many, many documents. However, if you have the misfortune of having a newer printer you will quickly find that such action is necessary, and in fact, a measure to ensure that it does not eat your wallet as it does paper. Subsequently, buying the ink would only further entice the beast, so do not --under any case-- feed it. Hence, I must apologize.

Jp · 11-17-2005, 10:10 PM

--By the way, Jim.

I hope you find the paper useful, and thank you for lightening the mood in here, it was getting a little stiff around the collar.