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Meter in Poetry 47829 Views


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Description:

Without meter, poetry is just... poetry without meter.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:07

Meter in Poetry, a la Shmoop. If we told you to watch for iambs<<eye-ams>>,

00:13

trochees<<tro-keys>>, spondees<<spahn-dees>>, anapests<<an-uh-pests>> and dactyls<<dack-tils>>...

00:17

...you might cover your head with your hands and run screaming for the nearest shelter...

00:22

...hoping against hope that none of them are hungry.

00:24

But, in fact, these "fantastic five" are nothing more than types of poetic "feet." And those

00:30

feet? They help add rhythm and meter to a line of poetry.

00:34

Oh yeah... it's not just jazz musicians who need to lay down a funky beat.

00:39

Poetry is big on beauty, and ideas, and feelings, sure... but in many cases, it also relies

00:45

on meter to evoke a certain response from the reader.

00:51

During poetry's humble beginnings...

00:53

...meter was introduced not so much to make poems sing-songy...

00:58

...but to simply help remember the dang things. Which way is easier to remember what you need

01:06

to get at the grocery store?

01:08

A list like this?

01:10

Or a poem like this:

01:12

The milk is gone And yogurt, too

01:14

I need some Dawn And a new shampoo

01:15

We're low on rye The eggs are out

01:18

Could use some pie And sauerkraut.

01:20

Catchy, no?

01:22

And it's not just because the poem rhymes.

01:24

It's because there is a natural flow... a rhythm... to the words.

01:28

Let's take a look at a version of our shopping poem that is lacking in rhythm.

01:33

The milk is gone And somebody polished off the last of the

01:37

yogurt, too I need to get some Dawn

01:40

And shampoo We're running low on our rye

01:43

The eggs were eaten this morning and so they're just about out

01:46

Since we don't have any dessert on hand it would be nice to stock up on pie

01:51

And we should also probably get sauerkraut.

01:55

Still rhymes. But yikes. Probably not something you'd see come out of poet laureate.

02:01

Meter is absent in free verse poetry, but there is still rhythm.

02:05

Not every line needs to have a certain number of syllables...

02:08

...and you can switch up where you stress certain words...

02:11

...but even free verse makes you feel as if there is some kind of music infused into the

02:16

language. Try playing around with meter yourself, and

02:20

see what happens.

02:21

If all else fails, at least you won't run out of sauerkraut.

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