Versification
Poetic Genres
- Epic: long narrative poem on a great or serious subject
- Dramatic: monologue or dialogue written in the voice of a character assumed by the poet
- Lyric: poem written in the voice of a single speaker (originally a song performed in ancient Greece to the music of a lyre)
Meter
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iambic
(iamb)
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unstressed stressed
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"the best | of times, | the worst | of times";
New York
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For most of the last 400 years, iambic meter was the dominant rhythm. Considered closest to ordinary speeech. Also found in prose. Carries a certain seriousness. Frequestnly used for more serious subjects. Rising meter
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trochaic
(trochee)
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stressed unstressed
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"London | bridge is | falling | down";
"meter"
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Trochaic foot has a lighter, quicker tone. Used in nursery rhymes and poems dedicated to less solemn subject matter. Falling meter
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anapestic
(anapest)
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unstressed unstressed
stressed
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"There are man-| y who say |";
"comprehend"
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Triple foot moves line along quickly and with energy. Rising meter
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dactylic
(dactyl)
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stressed
unstressed
unstressed
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"This is the | forest pri - |meval. The | murmuring | pines and the | hemlocks...";
"dinnertime"
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Triple foot. Falling meter
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spondaic
(spondee)
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stressed
stressed
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"Rocks, caves, | lakes, ferns, | bogs, dens...";
"Listen | you hear | the grat |ing roar / Of peb | bles which | the waves |draw back, | and fling..."
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Places explicit emphasis on specific words. Frequently introduced in the middle of a line as irregular meter for emphasis.
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Line length
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Monometer
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one foot
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Thus I
Pass by
And die,
As one,
Unknown....
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Dimeter
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two feet
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"Volleyed and thundered... Rode the six hundred"
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Trimeter
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three feet
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"The whis- | key on | your breath
Could make | a small | boy diz | (zy)
But I | hung on | like death"
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Tetrameter
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four feet
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"Had we | but world | e nough | and time,
This coy- | ness la- | dy were | no crime.
We would | sit down, | and think | which way..."
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Pentameter *
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five feet
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"We hold | these truths | to be | self-ev | ident"
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Hexameter
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six feet
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"Day by | day thy | shadow | shines in | heaven be | holden
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Other terms related to meter
- Caesura: short pause often (but not always) signalled by punctuation, such as a comma, that may interrupt a line
- End-stopped Line: when a the pause falls at the end of the line (even if a period is not present)
- Enjambment: run-on lines; when the 'sentence' carries over the end of the verse line, increasing the pace of the poem
Rhyme
- end rhyme: rhymes appearing at the end of the line
- internal rhyme: similar sounding words within the space of a line
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assonance
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repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
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not/rod
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onomatopoeia
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combination of words whose sound resembles the sound it denotes
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ooze of oil; drip of raindrops
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masculine rhyme
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single stressed syllable
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"
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feminine rhyme
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stressed syllable followed by unstressed
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chiming / rhyming
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perfect rhyme
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exact correspondence of sound
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"
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| eye rhyme |
words that are spelled alike, and may have once been pronounced alike, but no longer are |
prove / love;
daughter / laughter
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| imperfect rhyme |
frequently used to epxress doubt, frustration, grief |
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Form
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Blank Verse
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unrhymed iambic pentameter
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Closest verse form to natural spoken English. Introduced in mid-16th century.
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Examples:
Milton, Paradise Lost; Wordsworth, The Prelude; Tennyson, "Ulysses"
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couplet
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two lines of verse, usually coupled by a rhyme
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Principle unit of English poetry since rhyme started being used. |
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heroic couplet
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self-contained units often used in epics and plays
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Ex: Pope, The Rape of the Lock |
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tercet
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stanza of three lines traditionally linked with
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