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- Prosody: The metrical pronunciation of a song or poem.
- Rhythm: A combination of vocal speeds, rises, and falls; in poetry,
heavy and light stress. Patterns
are called "feet."
- Scansion (scan). The process of marking beats in a poem to establish the
prevailing metrical pattern.
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- One foot: monometer
- Two feet: dimeter
- Three feet: trimeter
- Four feet: tetrameter
- Five feet: pentameter
- Six feet: hexameter
- Seven feet: heptameter or the septenary
- Eight feet: octameter
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- Spondee stressed stressed
- Pyrrhic unstressed unstressed
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- 1. Iamb/ iambic unstressed
stressed
- The most natural and common kind in English, this meter elevates speech
to poetry (iambic pentameter)
- Example:
- The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
- The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
- The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
- And leaves the world to darkness, and to me.
- When you say this aloud, what syllables are stressed? Mark them with a
“strong” mark (‘) above the syllable.
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- The CURfew TOLLS the KNELL of PARTing DAY,
- The LOWing HERD wind SLOWly O’ER the LEA,
- The PLOWman HOMEward PLODS his WEARy WAY,
- And LEAVES the WORLD to DARKness, AND to ME.
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- 2. Trochaic/trochee stressed
unstressed
- Example:
- Tyger, tyger, burning bright
- In the forest of the night
- What immortal hand or eye
- Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
- Say this quatrain aloud and mark the accented syllables. Where are the strong syllables?
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- TYger, TYger, BURNing BRIGHT
- IN the FORest OF the NIGHT
- WHAT imMORtal HAND or EYE
- COULD FRAME thy FEARful SYMmetRY?
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- 3. Dactyl/dactylic
- stressed unstressed unstressed
- Example:
- This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
- Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
- Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic.
- Say the first line aloud and mark the stressed syllables.
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- THIS is the FORest primEVal. The MURmuring PINES and the HEMlocks,
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- 4. Anapest/ anapestic unstressed
unstressed stressed
- 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
- Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
- The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
- In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
- Say this aloud and mark the stressed syllables.
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- 'Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas and ALL through the HOUSE,
- Not a CREAture was STIRring, not EVen a MOUSE.
- The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
- In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there
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- Try to figure out the meter for each selection, and then go on to the
next slide, where the answer will be given.
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- 1. Go, and catch a falling star,
- Get with child a mandrake root
- Tell me where all past years are,
- Or who cleft the Devil's foot . .
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- --John Donne, “Song”
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- Trochaic tetrameter. Notice the
words that are emphasized:
- Line 1: Go, catch, fall, star
- Line 2: Get, child, man, root
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- Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw--
- For he's the master criminal who can defy the law.
- He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
- For when they reach the scene of the crime-Macavity's not there!
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- Iambic heptameter (or the septenary).
Note the stresses: MaCAViTY’s the MYStery CAT: he’s CALLED the
HIDden PAW. “Mystery” is pronounced like “mystry” here.
- This type of seven-stress line is often used in children’s poems or
humorous poems.
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- 'Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare
- "You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
- As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
- Trims his belt and buttons, and turns out his toes.
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- Anapestic tetrameter. ‘Tis the
VOICE of the LOBster: I HEARD him deCLARE.
- If you listen to the rhythm, it sounds just like “’Twas the Night Before
Christmas,” which is written in the same meter.
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- By the shores of Gitche-Gumee,
- By the shining Big-Sea-Water
- Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
- Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
- Dark behind it rose the forest,
- Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees
- Rose the firs with cones upon them.
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- Trochaic tetrameter. BY the SHORES of GITCHe-GUmee / BY the SHINing
BIG-sea-Water
- This is trochaic tetrameter with the last syllable added. You’ll recall that Blake’s “The Tyger”
had the last syllable of the line omitted (“Tyger! Tyger! Burning
bright”). The example here is a much more sing-song rhythm as a result
of having that final syllable.
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- How say that by law we may torture and chase
- A woman whose crime is the hue of her face?-
- With her step on the ice and her arm on her child,
- The danger was fearful, the pathway was wild. . . .
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- Anapestic tetrameter, although this meter varies somewhat. How SAY that
by LAW we may TORture and CHASE / A WOman whose CRIME is the HUE of her
FACE?
- This serious poem makes use of galloping meter because it deals with a
mother escaping from slavery. She is pursued as she crosses the river
into freedom. The meter gives the rhythm of the poem a sense of urgency.
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- You should also try the test-yourself quiz on prosody at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/quiz/prosquiz.htm
- Note: This is NOT a graded quiz. Anybody can take it, and the results
are available only to you.
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