Meter
Also known as poetic meter
The regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. Meter is named by its foot, such as the iamb, and by how many feet a line holds, such as pentameter.
- The foot
- Iamb: da-DUM
- The count
- Pentameter: five feet a line
In practice
Meter is the beat of a poem: a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that repeats from line to line. In English it is measured in feet. Each foot is a small group of syllables with one stress, and the name of a meter combines the kind of foot with the number of feet in a line.
The common feet are the iamb (da-DUM, as in "today"), the trochee (DUM-da, "garden"), the anapest (da-da-DUM, "understand"), the dactyl (DUM-da-da, "poetry") and the spondee (DUM-DUM, "heartbreak"). A line can have one foot (monometer) up to eight (octameter); pentameter has five and tetrameter four.
Meter is a pattern, not a cage. Poets vary it constantly, swapping a foot or adding a syllable, and the variations are what the ear notices. Not every language measures meter by stress: French counts syllables, and Japanese counts sound units.
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Types of meter
Iambic pentameter, five iambs a line, is the main meter of English poetry and Shakespeare's plays: "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?" Iambic tetrameter, four iambs, is common in ballads and hymns.
Trochaic meter falls: Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha is in trochaic tetrameter. Anapestic meter gallops, as in limericks and Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib". Dactylic hexameter, six dactyls, is the meter of Homer and Virgil.
Meter examples
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven": "ONCE up-ON a MID-night DREAR-y, WHILE i PON-dered, WEAK and WEAR-y" is trochaic octameter, eight trochees, which gives the poem its chanting drive.
Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas": "'Twas the NIGHT be-fore CHRIST-mas, and ALL through the HOUSE" is anapestic tetrameter, four anapests, which makes it skip. Dr. Seuss used the same meter in many of his books.
How to scan meter
Read the line aloud naturally and mark each stressed syllable. Then divide the line into feet and name the pattern that repeats most. Do not force stress onto a word: the natural stress of English decides, and a dictionary can help with long words.
Expect variations. A line of iambic pentameter often opens with a trochee or ends with an extra light syllable. Scanning is about finding the underlying pattern and noticing where the poet breaks it, because those breaks usually carry meaning.
Common questions
What is meter in poetry?
Meter is the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry, measured in feet such as the iamb and named by the number of feet a line holds.
What are the types of meter?
The main feet are the iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl and spondee. Lines are named by their feet: dimeter has two, trimeter three, tetrameter four, pentameter five and hexameter six.
What is the most common meter in English?
Iambic pentameter: five iambs, or ten syllables alternating light and strong, as in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.
What is the difference between meter and rhythm?
Meter is the regular pattern a poem follows. Rhythm is the actual movement of the sounds as you read, including every variation from that pattern.
Does all poetry have meter?
No. Free verse has no regular meter, and its rhythm comes from line breaks, repetition and speech.