1. Rhythm and Metre Dr Frances McCormack

2. Scanning a poem:

Look, listen or feel for patterns of stress

Read the poems aloud

Tap out the rhythm as you read

Mark the stresses as you go along

3. Stress

Refers to the emphasis given to one syllable over the others

The push

Try to say each syllable with a push and see which is correct

Write out your own name.Underline the stressed syllables

Like this:Fran ces Mc Cor mack

Where does the stress fall on the following words?

Zebra, antelope, chimpanzee, bonobo, baboon

4. Metrical feet

A foot is an arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.

5. Iamb

- /

(be hold , de light , a bout )

Two syllables, with the stress on the second

The most common type of foot in English verse: natural to spoken English

Is there an iamb in your name?

Raquel, Patrice, Ramn, Chantelle, O Shea, O Brien, McGlynn, Ahern

6. Trochee

/ -

( ap ple,ga ther,feel ing)

Two syllables, with a stress on the first

Is there a trochee in your name?

Frances, Brendan, Carla, Cathy, Mary, Brian, Peter, Harney, Brennan, Jenkins

7. Anapaest

- - /

(Tennes see , inter rupt , disap pear )

Three syllables, with a stress on the last

Is there an anapaest in your name?

Dominique, Lafayette, De La Salle, Marie-Claire

8. Dactyl

/ - -

( scor pion,hap piness,sen timent)

Three syllables, with a stress on the first

Is there a dactyl in your name?

Jacqueline, Agatha, Millicent, Tabitha, Sullivan, Richardson

9. Spondee

//

( football ,heartbreak )

Two syllables, both stressed

Anne Glynn, John Walsh, Pat Leigh, Phil Smith

10. Amphibrach

- / -

(ba na na)

Three syllables, with a stress on the second

Lucretia, Patricia, Ricardo, McCormack, Kineavey

11. Measure your name

Can you underline the stresses in your name and then determine which feet are used?

Fran ces Mc Cor mack: Trochee and amphibrach

What about those words from earlier?

Ze bra (trochee),an telope (dactyl), chimpan zee(anapaest), bo no bo (amphibrach), bab oon (iamb)

12. NB

You dont need to mark out every foot in a poem.You merely need to be able to point out the general rhythmic pattern of the poem, as well as points at which the pattern varies.

13. Scanning lines of poetry

Divide the line into syllables

Hick|o|ry|-dick|o|ry| dock|,

the| mouse | ran | up |the | clock

Find polysyllabic words (words of more than one syllable) and mark the stressed syllables with a /

//

Hick|o|ry|-dick|o|ry| dock|,

the| mouse | ran | up |the | clock

14.

Mark the unstressed syllables in polysyllabic words with

/--/--

Hick|o|ry|-dick|o|ry| dock|,

the| mouse | ran | up |the | clock

Figure out which monosyllabic words are stressed and unstressed:

/--/--/

Hick|o|ry|-dick|o|ry| dock|,

-/-/-/

the| mouse | ran | up |the | clock

15. You can do this for the whole poem:

/--/ --/

Hickory-dickory dock,

-/-/-/

the mouse ran up the clock.

-/-/

The clock struck one,

-/-/

The mouse ran down.

/--/--/

Hickory-dickory dock.

16. Once you see a pattern, mark between each unit with |

/--/ --/ two dactyls and a monosyllabic foot

Hickory|-dickory | dock,

-/-/-/ three iambs

the mouse | ran up | the clock.

-/-/ two iambs

The clock | struck one,

-/-/ two iambs

The mouse| ran down.

/--/--/ two dactyls and a monosyllabic foot

Hickory|-dickory | dock.

17. We can describe the metrical lines as follows:

/--/ --/ two dactyls and a monosyllabic foot = three feet

Hickory|-dickory | dock,

-/-/-/ three iambs = three feet

the mouse | ran up | the clock.

-/-/ two iambs = two feet

The clock | struck one,

-/-/ two iambs = two feet

The mouse| ran down.

/--/--/ two dactyls and a monosyllabic foot = three feet

Hickory|-dickory | dock.

18. There is a shorthand:

Monometer: one-foot line

Dimeter: two-foot line

Trimeter: three-foot line

Tetrameter: four-foot line

Pentameter: five-foot line

Hexameter: six-foot line

Heptameter: seven-foot line

Octameter: eight-foot line

19. Iambic Pentameter

Most common type of metre in English poetry

Iambic: made up of iambs

Pentameter: five feet to a line

Iambic pentameter: five iambs to a line

- / - / - / - / - / (da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM)

20. Sonnet 73, William Shakespeare

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruind choirs, where late the sweet birds sang