In Part 1, we saw that language naturally contains stressed and unstressed syllables, and that these syllables can be divided into units called feet. The name of the foot gives us the first term in our description: iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic. That is the rhythm of a line.
The second term in that description tells the number of feet in a given line. This is the line's meter.
Feet Meter Feet Meter One Monometer Five Pentameter Two Dimeter Six Hexameter Three Trimeter Seven Heptameter Four Tetrameter Eight Octameter
Here are some examples, recycled from Part 1, with their full descriptions:
Trochaic dimeter:
/ u / u Calvin | College 1 2Iambic pentameter:
u / u / u / u / u / I have | to go | or I'll | be late | for class. 1 2 3 4 5Dactylic trimeter:
/ u u / u u / u u Nobody | likes to be | disciplined. 1 2 3Trochaic pentameter:
/ u / u / u / u / u That's a | funny | thing to | say to | someone. 1 2 3 4 5Anapestic tetrameter:
u u / u u / u u / u u / By the smile | on her face | you could tell | that she knew. 1 2 3 4Anapestic tetrameter:
u u / u u / u u / u u / If the wea- | ther is nice, | we can sit | on the lawn. 1 2 3 4Dactylic tetrameter:
/ u u / u u / u u / u u Under the | moonlight the | mermaids are | whispering. 1 2 3 4Dactylic tetrameter:
/ u u / u u / u u / u u All of the | people at | Calvin are | Hollanders. 1 2 3 4In short, scanning a line of poetry involves three simple steps:
- Mark the stressed and unstressed syllables.
- Divide these into feet. This will give you the first term (iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic).
- Count the feet. This will give you the second term (trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, etc.)
Part 3 discusses some of the difficulties that arise when lines are not as regular as the examples above.
Part 3: Application