19th Century British Poetry

Rhythm

Poetry often have a clearly identifiable rhythm. This rhythm is caused by some syllables that have a "heavy stress" and other syllables that have a "light stress". Heavy stressed and light stressed syllables are also known as simply "stressed" or "unstressed" syllables.

Meter

"If a poem's rhythm is structured into a recurrence of regular -- that is, approximately equal -- units, we call it meter (from the Greek word for measure)." Norton's Anthology of Poetry, 3rd Edition. p. 1404.

Metrical Feet

The lines in poetry are grouped into "metrical feet". Each foot usually consists of two or three syllables. A poem's line's can be described according to how many metrical feet it has. For instance, a line with four feet is called a tetrameter.

1 = monometer
2 = dimeter
3 = trimemeter
4 = tetrameter
5 = pentameter
6 = hexameter
7 = heptameter
8 = octameter

Two-Syllable Feet

• Iamb (adv. iambic)

An iamb has contains a light stress followed by a heavy stress. The iamb is the most common foot in English poetry because it is closest to natural speech.

Because the stress is at the end of the foot, iambic rhythm is considered "rising". [Rising meter]

• Trochee (adv. trochaic)
  

The trochee consists of a heavy accent (stressed syllable) followed by an unstressed syllable. Most English words are trochaic. Two-syllable words that start with a prefix (e.g. because, sublime) are usually NOT trochaic.

Since the final syllable in trochee is unstressed, it is considered "falling". [Falling Meter]

• Spondee (adv. spondaic)

A spondee has two stressed syllables per foot.

• Pyrrhic (adv. pyrrhic)

A pyrrhic has two unstressed syllables per foot.

Three-Syllable Feet

• Anapest (adv. anapestic)

The anapest has two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. It causes rising meter.

• Dactyl (adv. dactylic)

The dactyl has one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. It causes falling meter.

Scansion

Scansion is the act of scanning or determining the meter in a poem by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables using the accent and breve symbols, indicating metrical feet and marking caesurae (pauses).

For more on scansion, including definitions, follow the following link.