9.1 Meter and Scansion

Meter and Rhythm

Understanding Poetic Meter

When you read a poem aloud, you naturally stress some syllables more than others. Meter is the name for the pattern those stresses form across a line. It's what gives poetry its pulse.

A few core terms to know:

• A foot is the basic repeating unit of meter. Each foot contains one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed syllables.
• Stressed syllables are the ones you naturally emphasize when speaking ($DUM$). Unstressed syllables are softer ($da$).
• The number of feet per line tells you the meter's name: monometer (1 foot), dimeter (2), trimeter (3), tetrameter (4), pentameter (5), hexameter (6).

So if someone says "iambic pentameter," they're telling you two things: the type of foot (iamb) and how many feet per line (five).

Techniques for Creating Rhythm

Meter isn't the only thing shaping a poem's rhythm. Two other devices play a big role:

• Caesura is a pause or break within a line, often marked by punctuation. It creates emphasis and controls pacing. In "To be, || or not to be," that comma forces you to pause right at the line's turning point.
• Enjambment is the opposite move. A sentence or phrase runs past the end of one line into the next without a pause, pulling the reader forward. In Frost's "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep," the meaning spills across the line break, creating momentum.

Poets mix caesura and enjambment to speed up, slow down, or redirect your attention within a fixed metrical pattern.

Scansion Techniques

Analyzing Poetic Meter

Scansion is the process of marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem to reveal its metrical pattern. Think of it as diagramming the rhythm.

To scan a line of poetry:

1. Read the line aloud naturally. Don't force a rhythm. Listen for which syllables you stress in normal speech.
2. Mark each syllable as stressed ($/$ or $DUM$) or unstressed ($u$ or $da$).
3. Divide the syllables into feet. Look for a repeating pattern (e.g., $da\text{-}DUM$, $DUM\text{-}da$).
4. Identify the foot type (iamb, trochee, dactyl, etc.) and count the feet to name the meter.
5. Note any variations. Poets regularly substitute a different foot for emphasis or surprise. These substitutions are often the most interesting moments in a poem.

For example, scanning "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" gives you: $u / \;|\; u / \;|\; u / \;|\; u / \;|\; u /$. That's five iambs, so it's iambic pentameter.

Scansion matters because it shows you where a poet follows the pattern and where they break it. A sudden disruption in meter often signals a shift in meaning or emotion.

Common Metrical Patterns

Iambic Meter

The iamb is the most common foot in English poetry: one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable ($da\text{-}DUM$). It mirrors the natural rhythm of English speech, which is why it sounds so comfortable to the ear.

Iambic pentameter (five iambs per line, ten syllables total) dominates English verse. You'll find it in Shakespeare's sonnets, Milton's Paradise Lost, and most blank verse.

• Example: "Shall I com-PARE thee TO a SUM-mer's DAY?" (Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)

Each pair of syllables follows the $da\text{-}DUM$ pattern. Iambic pentameter is used in sonnets, blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), and heroic couplets (rhymed pairs of iambic pentameter lines).

Other Metrical Feet

• Trochee ($DUM\text{-}da$): stressed then unstressed. It creates a falling, driving rhythm.
  • "DOU-ble, DOU-ble, TOIL and TROU-ble" (Shakespeare, Macbeth)
• Dactyl ($DUM\text{-}da\text{-}da$): one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed. It produces a rolling, waltz-like feel.
  • "THIS is the FOR-est pri-ME-val" (Longfellow, Evangeline)
• Anapest ($da\text{-}da\text{-}DUM$): two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed. It builds a galloping momentum.
  • "The As-SYR-i-an came DOWN like a WOLF on the FOLD" (Byron, "The Destruction of Sennacherib")
• Spondee ($DUM\text{-}DUM$): two stressed syllables in a row. Spondees rarely sustain an entire poem; instead, poets drop them in among other feet for weight and emphasis.
  • "ROCKS, CAVES, LAKES, FENS, BOGS, DENS, and shades of death" (Milton, Paradise Lost)

A quick way to remember these: iambs and anapests rise toward the stress, while trochees and dactyls fall from it. Spondees hit hard on both beats. Most poems mix feet rather than sticking rigidly to one type, so when you're scanning, expect some variation.