Rhythm

By and large, poetry is and was meant to be spoken aloud. When you pick up a new poem, read out loud at least once, and if possible, several times. In English poetry, word and syllable stress can create a sense of rhythm. Some poets focus on using certain rhythmic patterns, and they might also count the number of syllables per line. This kind of poetry sometimes resembles music. Although contemporary poets tend to be more relaxed about rhythmic requirements, it is still worth spending time looking at some famous historical examples to see what makes them remarkable.

The term meter refers to the way stressed and unstressed syllables are used. Below are several different types of meter.

• Iambic – A 2-syllable pattern where the second syllable is stressed. Sound: duh-DUH.

  • Common words: Avoid. Deny. Attack. Retreat.

  • Emily Dickinson: We passed the school where children played…

  • William Shakespeare: When I do count the clock that tells the time…

• Trochaic – A 2-syllable pattern where the first syllable is stressed. Sound: DUH-duh.

  • Common words: Apples. Cherries. Melons. Grapefruit.

  • W. H. Auden: Earth, receive an honoured guest; William Yeats is laid to rest.

  • William Shakespeare: Double, double toil and trouble.

• Spondaic – A 2-syllable pattern where both syllables are stressed. Sound: DUH-DUH. People don't typically write poems using only spondaic meter. You're more likely to find occasional use, such as repetition of a one-syllable word.

  • Common words: Headache. Childhood. Downtown. Handshake.

• Dactylic – A 3-syllable pattern where the first syllable is stressed. Sound: DUH-duh-duh.

  • Common words:  Poetry. Destiny. Basketball. Elephant.

  • Robert Browning: Just for a handful of silver he left us.

  • William Shakespeare: Out, damned spot. Out, I say.

• Anapestic – A 3-syllable pattern where the third syllable is stressed. Sound: duh-duh-DUH.

  • Common words: Understand. Interrupt. Contradict. Underfoot.

  • Edgar Allan Poe: It was many and many a year ago...

  • Clement Clarke Moore: Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house...

Let's take a look at the trochaic pattern in action. The following is the opening of The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe (1848).

In the above fragment, all five lines are written in trochaic. In other words, the pattern is DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh... At the same time, the first three lines have an odd number of syllables, so they end without a final duh. This creates a natural place for the speaker to pause and breathe.

The poem continues as follows.

In this second snippet, the rhythm eventually changes. Lines four ("time time time"), seven ("bells, bells, bells, bells") and eight ("bells, bells, bells") break the trochaic rhythm. Each of those words needs to be stressed, and none of them are followed by an unstressed sound. As a result, the speaker doesn't have time to relax and breathe, and the sections feel heavy. Poe's intent was that you would imagine real church bells really ringing. Did he succeed?

If you are interested, take a few minutes and read the entirety of The Bells.

Scansion

The process of identifying a poem's rhythm is called scansion. Sometimes you can easily find the rhythm, but other times it can be unclear, because poets often change rhythm in the middle of their poems. In many situations, opinions may vary and there could be several reasonable descriptions.

Above, we saw several types of rhythm. There are a multitude of other types that you might use or encounter. Don't rush out and try to memorize them all in a short time. Learn whatever your instructor is emphasizing, and leave the others for the future. To write interesting poetry one must write a lot of poetry, so prioritize that.

References

• Glossary of Poetic Terms. (n.d.). The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2024.

• Kearney, D. (n.d.). Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop [MOOC]. Coursera. Retrieved 2024.

• Meter. (n.d.). Literary Devices. Retrieved 2024.

• Trochee. (n.d.). LitCharts. Retrieved 2024.