i am not easily deterred once i get hold of a subject. right now, meter is, for reasons obvious to most of you, on my mind.
meter comes from the word meaning, "measure," and when i think of a measure in the poetic context, i think of sound and music - and not the keeping track by metronomes.
for measuring length we use the inch, the foot, the yard; for time - the second, minute, hour; and for verse, we use the foot, the line, and sometimes the stanza.
in the normal process of language, in any sentence arrangement, with every word of more than one syllable, one syllable is accented or stressed. with words of even one syllable some are given more prominence than the rest. in prose, these accents happen more or less haphazardly, in poetry - the poet arranges them at chosen intervals.
in poetry, the basic metrical unit - the foot - normally consists of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables - though on on occasion, there may be no unaccented syllables, and rarely three.
i hate to discuss the naming of feet, so i will just name the basic kinds and give an example beneath each one in parentheses:
*iamb (iambic meter)
(to-day)
unaccented/accented
*trochee (trochaic meter)
(dai-ly)
accented/unaccented
*anapest (anapestic meter)
(in-ter-vene)
unaccented/unaccented/accented
*dactyl (dactylic meter)
(yes-ter-day)
accented/unaccented/unaccented
spondee (spondaic)
(day-break)
accented/accented
monosyllabic foot
(day)
accented
[*these four are the important ones].
when i take the time to analyze meter, i can see how certain effects are achieved -- how rhythm (the wavelike recurrance of motion or sound-the natural rise & fall of language) is adapted to thought.
the second unit of measurement is the line, and we measure this by naming the number of feet in it; again, some names follow, and it is important to note that poetry need not have every line the same length -- we are simply looking for patterns:
monometer (1 foot)
dimeter (2 feet)
trimeter (3 feet)
tetrameter (4 feet)
pentameter (5 feet)
hexameter (6 feet)
heptameter (7 feet)
octameter (8 feet)
the third unit, the stanza, consists of a group of lines whose metrical pattern is repeated throughout the poem. not all poetry is written in stanzas, and someone else can have the joy of discussing that topic. but when i say a pattern is repeated, that pattern does not have to be regular and fixed -- and often, it is not even "discernable" to the naked eye.
meter is a complex topic, especially when we talk about the process of measuring verse, which is called scansion.
to scan, you simply do three things:
1. identify the prevailing foot. the one that appears to dominate the line.
2. name the number of feet in a line -- if it follows any regular pattern. i personally count syllables to make it easier for myself and divide by 2. that works most of the time.
3. describe the stanza pattern -- if there is one.
firstly, read the poem through normally. listen to where the accents fall. keep time, keep the beat. sometimes a line is highly irregular, so go on to the next when uncertain. look for easier lines, then you can mark them. once you have the key, you can open the other more difficult doors you passed by before.
a good reader will not ordinarily stop to scan a poem. a good reader will not exaggerate or over-emphasize accented syllables. the occasional scansion does have some value, though at best it will grossly describe the rhythmical quality of a poem. there are degrees of accent. accented and unaccented are relative terms. scansion is not an exact science by any means. within limits we may say it is right or wrong, but beyond those limits there is plenty of room for personal interpretation and disagreement among readers.
finally, perfect regularity of meter is no criterion of merit. one, if in essence, all art consists of repetition and variation, then if a meter alternates too regularly between light and heavy beats, we effectively kill variation. it becomes mechanical, monotonous. two, once a meter is established, then any deviations from it become highly significant, and are the means by which the poet can use meter to reinforce meaning.
the skillful use of meter will offer its greatest effectiveness by offering not one rhythm, but two. One will be an expected rhythm, the other is the heard rhythm. the latter will not necessarily confirm the former. this sets up counterpoint, and the appeal of a poem will hold the same appeal as melodies counterpointed in music or two swallows flying around each other in the same general course with individual eye-catching variations. simple phrasing and variation in the degree of accent, different feet -- these things introduced into the poem will not make it seem as if it flies alone.
the rhythm in a poem works as an emotional stimulus and heightens our attention to what is going on in a poem. by choice of meter and variation within the framework, the poet can adapt the sound of the piece to the content and reinforce meaning. meter works with all the elements of poetry to produce a total effect.
i maintain that within poetic structure, meter is the dna strand. however, for many it is just another resource, like alliteration or metaphor or irony -- even imagery -- but for a poet to do the job right, all those resources at hand must be used, taken advantage of, in order to best express the object or experience in mind.
susan
9/8/01
words to poem on Voice Forum re: meter, to follow tomorrow. this example had been chosen on purpose because the meter was easy to "discern."
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with Alan and GM and you an a couple of others. Its a joy to be a grainful part of it. Thanks for taking the time Susan.
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