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Mastering Poetic Meter: An Easy Guide

Learn how to scan a poem to identify meter patterns, recognize poetic feet, and understand syllable accents for an enriching reading experience. Discover different poetic meters and their distinctive characteristics. Adapt your reading pace to emphasize emotional intensity and vital ideas effectively.

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Mastering Poetic Meter: An Easy Guide

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  1. Meter orHow to Scan a poem This is easy

  2. Anyone can hear Meter • Do you know the difference between the words “refer” and “reefer” when you hear them? • If not, you might have trouble in your next job interview • That’s all you need to hear the meter of a poem. • You need a little more information to explain it, so that’s what we’ll cover.

  3. A quick demonstration • Mark accented syllables (louder parts of the word or phrase) with a forward slash on top of the word / • Mark unaccented syllables (quieter parts of the word or phrase) with a loop like a U • Here’s a piece from Hamlet with scanning marks: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGuFfps63YI

  4. Let’s do it to Bradstreet • U / U / U U U / U / • Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain • U / U / U / U / U / • Who after birth didst by my side remain, • U / U / U / U / U / • Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, • U / U / U / U / U / • Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,

  5. Names of poetic meters • The “feet” or repeating pattern within the line. • Iambic = 2 syllables, first unaccented, second accented: U / • to BE or NOT to BE • Trochaic = 2 syllables, opposite of above: / U • DOUble, DOUble, TOIL and TROUble • Anapestic = 3 syllables, two unaccented, third accented U U / • I arRISEand unBUILDit aGAIN. • Dactyllic = 3 syallables, first accented, last 2 unaccented / U U • Openly. • Spondee = 2 accented syllables (for variety) • Heartbreak

  6. poetic meters Cont. • The number of “feet” in a line is the second part of the name of the meter • Monometer One Foot • Dimeter Two Feet • Trimeter Three Feet • Tetrameter Four Feet • Pentameter Five Feet • Hexameter Six Feet • Heptameter Seven Feet

  7. Now let’s figure out the pattern and name it • First group the lines into “feet” and count them up. • U / U / U U U / U / ? • Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain • U / U / U / U / U / 5 iambic feet • Who after birth didst by my side remain, • U / U / U / U / U / same • Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, • U / U / U / U / U / same • Who thee abroad, exposed to public view, • Mostly iambic pentameter, so that’s the metric pattern for the poem.

  8. Meter is (almost) never totally uniform • Great poets draw attention to emotional intensity and important ideas by breaking meter. • Breaking or changing the meter for a few beats slows down or speeds up your reading and makes you notice certain words. • U / U / U U U / U / • Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain • U / U / U / U / U / • Who after birth didst by my side remain, • U / U / U / U / U / • Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, • U / U / U / U / U / • Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,

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