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Meter

The aim behind teaching meter is to give some formal understanding of the fact that rhythm is a defining principle in poetry. The aim is not to prepare students for examination, but to work the issue through in groups. At the very least a sense of the existence of meter in general, and of iambic pentameter in particular should emerge.

Students should also be able to identify the stressed syllables in a line. These worksheets are designed as fact sheets with exercises. I use them for more able students as enrichment worksheets. When done with a whole class, the explanations can be done as a whole-class activity, it is useful to get students to clap out the rhythms of lines - many more examples should be used from a poetry reader. Then smaller groups can usually handle the exercises.

Meter in Poetry

Poetry has rhythm, but what gives it rhythm? When we speak we tend to stress some words, usually the most important words in a sentence. Which words in the following sentences would you stress when speaking them out loud?

Why did you do that?
I never eat pork!
I can't! I'm sick!

What is the difference in meaning in the following sentences? Speak them out loud, stressing the syllables marked with a /. 

  /
When did he arrive? What time?
      /
When did he arrive? I'm not sure.
          /
When did he arrive? Rather than she.
               /
When did he arrive? I know when he went.

The stressed, or accented words give the beat. In fact, however, it is usually not whole words which are stressed, but particular syllables. Look at the following words. What syllable(s) are stressed in each?

in-ti-mi-date
re-ject
re-im-burse
par-tic-u-lar
aut-o-mo-bile.

Meter in poetry can be understood as rhythm which is regular. In English poetry, meter is decribed as consisting of units of syllables called metric feet consisting of weak and strong stresses. The strongly stressed syllable is called stressed, while the weaker stressed syllables are called unstressed or light.

We write this with a U for unstressed syllables, and a / for stressed syllables, as follows. 


1st    2nd      3rd    4th      5th 
Foot   Foot     Foot   Foot     Foot
      |        |      |        |       | 
 /  U | /   U  |U  /  | U   /  | U   / | 
Do you love me? I know you will say yes
Speak the line out loud, emphasising the stressed syllables. Clap out the rhythm.

Exercise

Show the stresses in the following lines of poetry by writing a / above the syllables which are strongly stressed. Remember that the stresses go according to syllables, not according to words. The syllable breaks have been shown to help you along.


1. To be, or not to be, that is the ques-tion:

2. Ti-ger! Ti-ger! burn-ing bright

3. The As-syr-ian came down like a wolf on the fold.

4. A thing of beau-ty is a joy for e-ver:

5. And cus-tom lie u-pon thee with a weight

6. Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,

7. Who fore-most now de-light to cleave.

How did you do? Remember that when spoken, the reader does not follow the stresses in a sing-song manner. There is an underlying meter, however, which a good reader will allow to come out naturally without stressing it.
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