Meter - A Basic Overview

When discussing the technicalities of meter in poetry, it's easy to become overwhelmed by confusing terminology. Don't worry! Once you have the basic vocabulary, you will be able to unwind the meaning of even the strangest sounding metrical descriptions, from iambic pentameter to dactylic hexameter, and more.

Meter
First of all, what is meter exactly? Meter is the measurement of rhythm in poetry. More like a song than regular speech, poetry lines naturally fall into rhythmical beats. The different sequences of these rhythms are given names to tell them apart. This is to aid people who write about poetry, allowing them to describe a poem's rhythm in one tight, convenient phrase.

Poetry has feet?
You may have heard or read the term foot in connection with poetry, as in: “an iambic foot”. A foot is a metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables. If you are having trouble keeping the terms 'meter' and 'foot' apart, just know that 'meter' is a general measurement and 'foot' is a single unit of that measurement.

Common Syllable Sequences
Though a poetic foot may appear in many different sequences, the following are the most common:

iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Example (single word): in-form, re-solve
Example (poetry): Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
This is perhaps the most well-known of the types of foot, as it was utilized by Shakespeare in his plays and sonnets. It is one of the most natural rhythms for English speakers.

anapest – two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable
Example (single word): un-der-stand, in-ter-fere
Example (poetry): Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house

trochee – one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable
Example (single word): bro-ther, win-ter
Example (poetry): Tyger Tyger, burning bright

dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
Example (single word): in-te-grate, dev-a-state
Example (poetry): Just for a handful of silver he left us

spondee – two stressed syllables together
Example (single word): e-nough, no way
Example (poetry): When the blood creeps and the nerves prick
This occurs when the rhythm calls for two syllables to be stressed one after the other, like two drumbeats.

pyrrhic – two unstressed syllables together (usually found in the middle of a line)
Example (single word): of the, and the
Example (poetry): When the blood creeps and the nerves prick
The pyrrhic foot is difficult to explain in lines, as there is no stress or force on these syllables at all. They are often the smaller, conjoining, less important words.

HINT: If you aren't sure how many syllables are in a word or a line, touch one finger to your chin and speak the word/line aloud. Each time your chin moves down is one syllable.

Rising and Falling
Meter is often described as rising or falling. Falling meter moves from stressed syllables to unstressed syllables, as though the sound is a waterfall, starting with the forceful stressed syllable at the top, and cascading down to the softer, easier unstressed syllables. Trochaic and dactylic meters are falling meters (ex: forward, wonderful). Rising meter is the opposite- when stressed syllables follow unstressed syllables. The meter rises from the low unstressed syllable up to the harder, bolder stressed syllable, as with iambic and anapestic meters (ex: indeed, comprehend).

What it all means
Now that we understand the basic vocabulary of meter, we can unravel the meanings of all those confusing phrases we've heard. The key is to break up the phrase, and apply your vocabulary knowledge. Each of these descriptors of meter are composed as follows: Foot + Number of Feet + 'meter'.

Let's start with an easy one: Iambic Pentameter. (Shakespearian)
'Iambic' refers to 'iamb', which we now know means one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.
Pentameter breaks into 'penta' and 'meter'. 'Penta' means five (think 'pentagram', which has 5 sides). So when we hear the phrase 'Iambic Pentameter', we know that means this particular poem has five iambic feet. We know that each line will go something like this: da-DUM(1) da-DUM(2) da-DUM(3) da-DUM(4) da-DUM(5).

Let's try something more tricky: Dactylic Hexameter. (As seen in the poetry of Homer)
'Dactylic' can only refer to 'dactyl', which we now know is one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
Hexameter breaks into 'hexa' and 'meter'. 'Hex' is six, so we know that each line of this poem will have six dactylic feet. We know that each line will go something like this: DUM-da-da(1) DUM-da-da(2) DUM-da-da(3) DUM-da-da(4) DUM-da-da(5) DUM-da-da(6).

And just like that, the secret to some complex-sounding terminology is revealed. With a little practice and memorization, you'll soon find yourself discussing the mesmerizing trochaic octameter of Edgar Allan Poe's “The Raven”, and Dr. Seuss' choice of playful anapestic tetrameter in “The Cat in The Hat”.