Study of F.O.R.M________ Metre (II)

F.O.R.M.- Meter (Part 2)
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Jul 12, 2010 8:56 pm
F.O.R.M.- Meter (Part 2)
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Jack Huber
Meter- Part 2As I mentioned in Part 1, the simplest and smallest repeating pattern of meter is called a “foot” and the number and kind of feet make up the meter in a line. I wrote about iambic pentameter, one of the oldest classic meters and quite often used in sonnets, including five iambs (or iambic feet of “dah-DUM”). I use the following notation for this meter: - ^ - ^ - ^ - ^ - ^.Of course, we're talking about patterns of syllables. Simply, a syllable is a basic unit of speech generally containing only one vowel sound. The word "basic" contains two syllables ( ba-sic ). The word "generally" contains four ( gen-er-al-ly ). This means you'll need to count vowel sounds, not vowels. "Table" has two vowel sounds, as does "people" and "capture." "Advertisement" has four syllables; "deanthropomorphization" has eight (de-an-thro-po-mor-phi-za-tion).Most often trouble in determining syllables is with local speech or dialect. While I always took for granted that "orange" was two syllables, sure enough I came across someone who pronounces it "oinj." A few more examples: "prayer" can be pronounced "pray-er" or "prare;" "wandering" can be "wan-der-ing" or "wan-dring;" "wheel" might be "we-ull" or "wele;" "world" is pronounced both as "wurr-uld" and "whurld." There are many more of these; a poet must take care in helping the reader, if possible, to pronounce a word the way he or she intends. This is done with context, placement in a line and obvious meter pattern. If pronunciation of a word might distract from a poem, sometimes I'll toss the word and use something else, even if it means completely rewriting a line or stanza. Knowing your audience can really help with these decisions.The simplest way to ascertain where syllable breaks are and which are stressed in a word is to look the word up in a dictionary, such as dictionary.com. For example, the captions for the word "aspect" might be "as-pekt" or "as' pekt". Both show the syllable breaks and that "as" should be stressed (bold on the first and an apostrophe on the latter). Using a word in a sentence can change the stress of one or more syllables, so the dictionary reference is only a guide.The following are the most common types of meter:• iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable ( - ^ )• trochee – one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable ( ^ - )• dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables ( ^ - - )• anapest – two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable ( - - ^ )• spondee – two stressed syllables together ( ^ ^ )The number of metrical feet in a line are as follows:• dimeter – two feet • trimeter – three feet • tetrameter – four feet • pentameter – five feet • hexameter – six feet • heptameter – seven feet • octameter – eight feet I’ll sometimes write in anapestic trimeter or tetrameter, such as:I will travel the world in a month ( - - ^ - - ^ - - ^ )Please remember your manners when visiting Ted ( - - ^ - - ^- - ^ - - ^ )When choosing a meter, you can mix patterns, usually in alternating lines, but remember you should keep that combined pattern throughout the poem. You can also add or subtract a syllable at the beginning or end of an otherwise classic metrical line as long as you are consistent, or it enhances the flow or emotion of the poem. In other words, it’s okay to purposely break the rules once you know them. Shakespeare often added and subtracted syllables from his patterns.Financial debacle was fast on our heels, ( - ^ - - ^ - - ^ - - ^ = anapestic tetrameter minus the first syllable)we managed to stay just ahead (- ^ - - ^ - - ^ = anapestic trimeter minus the first syllable)by moving to Kansas and Midwest ideals, (anapestic tetrameter minus the first syllable)a shelter from cash flow in red… (anapestic trimeter minus the first syllable)The most important aspect of meter is consistency and flow. When in doubt, write down the pattern notations for your whole poem and the inconsistencies will usually be obvious. Copyright © 2010 by Jack Huber