Meter in Poetry

• Meter in Poetry


  Meter is the pattern of beats in a line of poetry, a combination of the number of beats and arrangement of stresses
• Metrical foot


  • Iamb
  • Trochee
  • Spondee
  • Anapest
  • Dactyl
  • Amphibrach
  • Pyrrhic
• Iamb


  A metrical unit where the first syllable is unstressed and the second is stressed
• Trochee


  A metrical unit where the first syllable is stressed and the second is unstressed
• Spondee


  An arrangement of two stressed syllables
• Anapest


  A metrical unit with two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable
• Dactyl


  A metrical unit with one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
• Amphibrach


  A metrical unit with one stressed syllable between two unstressed syllables
• Pyrrhic


  A metrical foot with two unstressed syllables
• Types of Meter


  • Monometer
  • Dimeter
  • Trimeter
  • Tetrameter
  • Pentameter
  • Hexameter
  • Heptameter
  • Octameter
• Example of Iambic Pentameter in Poetry - "Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
• Example of Trochaic Tetrameter in Poetry - "The Tyger" by William Blake: Tyger Tyger, burning bright