Meter and Poetic Foot
Meter and Poetic Foot
Meter and Poetic Foot
Poetr y:
1. Iambic
2. Trochaic
3. Anapestic
4. Dactylic
5. Spondaic
Iambic pattern
• 1 unstressed syllable followed by
1 stressed syllable
• EXAMPLES:
– repose (re-POSE)
– belief (be-LIEF)
– complete (com-PLETE)
Trochaic Pattern
• 1 stressed syllable followed by
1 unstressed syllable
• EXAMPLES:
– garland (GAR-land)
– speaking (SPEAK-ing)
– value (VAL-ue)
Anapestic pattern
• 2 unstressed syllables followed by
1 stressed syllable
• EXAMPLES:
– on the road
– interrupt (in-ter-RUPT)
– unabridged, contradict, engineer,
masquerade, Galilee
Dactylic pattern
• 1 stressed syllable followed by 2
unstressed syllables
• EXAMPLE:
– happiness (HAP-pi-ness)
– galloping (GAL-lop-ing)
– fortunate, Saturday, daffodil, murmuring,
rhapsody
Spondaic Pattern
• All syllables have equal stress
• EXAMPLE:
– Heartbreak
– “Out, out…”
– "pen-knife," "ad hoc," "heartburn"
The Iambic foot
• The iamb = (1 unstressed syllable + 1 stressed syllable) is the
most common poetic foot in English verse.
• iambic foot examples:
– behold
– destroy
– the sun (articles such as “the” would be considered unstressed syllables)
– and watch (conjunctions such as and would be considered unstressed
syllables)
Lines containing iambic feet
• Behold / and watch / the sun / destroy / and grow (5 iambs)
• When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the
TIME [Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12] (5 iambs)
• A: Iambic
monometer
Meters & Feet
• Q: If a poem had 2 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
• A: Iambic
dimeter
Meters & Feet
• Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
• A: Iambic trimeter
Meters & Feet
• Q: If a poem had 4 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
• A: Iambic tetrameter
Meters & Feet
• Q: If a poem had 5 feet per line, and
the foot was iambic (1 unstressed + 1 stressed),
what type of poem would it be?
• A: Iambic pentameter
Meters & Feet
• Q: If a poem had 3 feet per line, and
the foot was trochaic (1 stressed +1
unstressed), what type of poem would it be?
• A: Trochaic tetrameter
Go ahead…
experiment with
different metric styles
in your own poetry!
End of presentation.