Emotions, Thoughts & Words 1

Unit 6 – Foot and Meter: Poems Do Rise and Fall

“My father would tell me if I wasn't writing in meter verse, it

wasn't poetry.”

— John Darnielle n.d.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, you shall be able to:

a. apply knowledge of foot and meter and use it with purpose in their own
writing.

Pretest

Poetry in voice analysis!

Directions: Below is a famous line of Christopher Marlowe’s play entitled “The face that
launched a thousand ships”. Mark (/) if the word has stress syllable and (v) if the word
has unstressed syllable.

Was ( v ) this ( / ) the ( v ) face ( / ) that ( v ) launch'd ( / ) a ( v ) thousand ( v ) ships ( / )

And ( v ) burnt ( / ) the ( v ) topless ( v ) towers ( / ) of ( v ) Ilium? ( )

Sweet ( v ) Helen, ( / ) make ( v ) me ( v ) immortal ( / ) with ( / ) a ( v ) kiss. ( / )

Her ( v ) lips ( / ) suck ( v ) forth ( / ) my ( v ) soul: ( / ) see ( v ) where ( v ) it ( / )

flies! ( / )

Come, ( v ) Helen, ( / ) come, ( / ) give ( / ) me ( v ) my ( / ) soul ( v ) again. ( / )

Here ( / ) will ( v ) I ( / ) dwell, ( v ) for ( v ) heaven ( / ) is ( v ) in ( / ) these ( v )

lips, ( v )

And ( v ) all ( / ) is ( v ) dross ( / ) that ( v ) is ( v ) not ( / ) Helena. ( / )

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Content

A line (in poetry) can be divided either into syllables formed by words or a
caesura, a complete pause or break between words in a line of poetry. So, when
counting syllables, you count more than single words – you count the entire
interconnected phrase, as you would pronounce it, not as it is spelled. Observe the given
lines below. The words are marked with the diacritical marks (v) unaccented - (/)
accented. The lines in the poem by Christopher Marlowe is read starting with an
unaccented (unstressed) followed by an accented (stressed) syllable. As clearly
presented, this pattern of syllables is reoccurring five times within a single line. This
measurement of accentual syllables and units are called poetic foot and meter.

Poetic Foot

A foot usually contains one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed
syllable. The standard (primary) types of feet in English poetry are the iamb, trochee,
dactyl and anapest.

Iambic da-DUM (unaccented/accented)

Anapestic da-da-DUM (unaccented/unaccented/accented)

Trochaic DUM-da (accented/unaccented)

Dactylic DUM-da-da (accented/unaccented/unaccented)

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Poetic Meter

Meter is simply the number of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of

verse. For better understanding, see the example below.

MONOMETER, a rare form of verse in which each line consists of a single metrical unit
(a foot or dipody). A good example in light verse is Desmond Skirrow’s “Ode on a
Grecian Urn summarized:

“Gods chase - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - / Gods chase /

Round vase.
What say? The word “Gods” The word “chase”
What play? One foot in
Don’t know is unstressed is stressed
Nice, though…” syllable every line syllable

A feet/foot is marked with a slash “/” (example: / Gods chase /) which consist a
single metrical unit such as one unstressed and one stressed syllable in a verse line
(one unstressed syllable + one stressed syllable = one foot). Always remember that
a poem does not start with a “one word” in every line but consist of two words or more
words.

DIMETER is a metrical line of verse with two feet. the dimeter line predominates in
Roberts Frost “Dust of Snow”

“The way a crow - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - / The way / a crow /

Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree The verse is The verse is
consisting of one Two feet in consisting of one
Has given my heart unstressed (the) and every line unstressed (a) and
A change of mood one stressed syllable one stressed syllable
And saved some part (way) (crow)
Of a day I had rued…”

If we dissect the first verse / The way / a crow / consist of a two metrical unit (one
unstressed syllable “the” + one stressed syllable “way” + unstressed syllable “a” +
one stressed syllable “crow” = two feet).

TRIMETER is a poetic device that is defined as a meter or a line that consists of three
metrical feet. "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke has the best example:

“We romped until the pans - - - - - - - - - - - - / We romped / un – til / the pans /

Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance The line is compost of three-foot
with unstressed syllable and
Could not unfrown itself…”
stressed syllable

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You can notice in the poem, that a particular word has two to three syllables. This
pattern is not only applicable on this but also in the other form as well. Just always do a
double check in voice analysis. All in all, a trimester has a three foot-six syllables that
alternate in three groups of unstressed and stressed.

TETRAMETER is a line of poetic verse that consists of four metrical feet. in English
poetry; it is used in the English and Scottish traditional ballads, which are usually
composed of four-line stanzas of alternating tetrameter and trimeter.

“Why does your sword so drip with blood, - - - / Why does / your sword / so drip / with
blood /
The line is compost of four-foot with
Edward, Edward, unstressed syllable and stressed syllable
Why does your sword so drip with blood
And why so sad go you…”

The line is compost of three-foot with

unstressed syllable and stressed syllable

The example above entitled Edward, Edward – is a traditional ballad existing in a

several variants. Remember that ballad has a different form and pattern. You may notice
that the ballad does not use of four feet meter consistently but alternately use trimester
and tetrameter. But, remember, a tetrameter must have a four-feet in every verse line.

PENTAMETER is a literary device that can be defined as a line in verse or poetry that
has five metrical feet. It also can be described as a line that consists of ten syllables,
where the first syllable is stressed, the second is unstressed, the third is stressed, and
so on until it reaches the 10th line syllable.

“…If music be the food of love, play on; - - - - - - - - / if mu / sic be / the food / of love /
play on /
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The line is compost of five-feet with
unstressed syllable and stressed syllable
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound…”

Here we can see that each line has five beats, and stress is placed on the
second syllable. Just always remember the pattern of pentameter.

There are other foot measurements.

 Hexameter (6)

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 Heptameter (7)
 Octameter (8)
 Nanometer (9)
 Decameter (10)

Going back to the first example. The line of Christopher Marlowe’s poem follows a
metric pattern called iambic pentameter.

Metrical patterns

Some common metrical patterns, with notable examples of poets and poems who use
them, include:

 Iambic pentameter (iamb repeated 5 times, or 5 feet) (John Milton in Paradise

Lost, William Shakespeare in his sonnets)
 Dactylic hexameter (dactyl repeated 6 times or 6 feet) (Homer, Iliad; Virgil,
Aeneid)
 Iambic tetrameter (iamb repeated 3 times) Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress;
Aleksandr Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening)
 Trochaic octameter (trochee repeated 8 times) (Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven)

We are now done with foot and meter. Let us learn along the way as we go along
the series of activities that will follow.

Things to Remember:
1. Be creative in using metrical beat,
2. Unleash your vocabulary that has more syllable,
3. Let the meter be an extension of your expression.

“Poetry is not the proper antithesis to prose, but to science.

Poetry is opposed to science, and prose to meter.”

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge n.d.

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Let’s start!

Learning Activity

Activity 1 Checking the Metrical Feet

Directions: Read the given poem below answer the following question and write it
inside the box provided.

Etherealizing
Robert Frost

A theory if you hold it hard enough

And long enough gets rated as a creed:
Such as that flesh is something we can slough
So that the mind can be entirely freed.
Then when the arms and legs have atrophied,
And brain is all that’s left of mortal stuff,
We can lie on the beach with the seaweed
And take our daily tide baths smooth and rough.
There once we lay as blobs of jellyfish
At evolution’s opposite extreme.
But now as blobs of brain we’ll lie and dream,
With only one vestigial creature wish:
Oh, may the tide be soon enough at high
To keep our abstract verse from being dry.

IN THE KNOW: POET

Robert Lee Frost, (born March 26, 1874, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died
January 29, 1963, Boston, Massachusetts), American poet who was much
admired for his depictions of the rural life of New England, his command of
American colloquial speech, and his realistic verse portraying ordinary people in
everyday situations.

ABOUT THE POEM

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Frost, is synonymous with meter and rhyme — the techniques of traditional poetry.
Naturally our arms and legs will atrophy (our ability to write traditionally) and all that will
be left of our poetry is “brain”. Frost’s prediction, in this respect, has proven true. Modern
free verse poetry is seldom appraised for its skill in rhyme, meter or imagery, but largely
its subject matter — in a word, brain. Two hundred years ago, a poorly written poem was
readily dismissed no matter how elevated its content. Today, when the only thing that
separates Free Verse from prose is ego, the poems of award-winning poets are almost
solely praised for their elevated and socially relevant content. Frost compares such stuff
to seaweed. With nothing left to the poetry but content (or brain) the daily tide (the
vicissitudes of readers and critics) will hardly affect it whether the baths are smooth or
rough. Frost is comparing free verse, and the subject matter of free verse poets, to the
amorphous jelly fish that moves whichever way the tide moves it. The jellyfish takes no
stand, and can’t.

Question:
1. Identify what type of pattern has been used in the poem through dissecting
each line. Rewrite the whole poem inside the box, mark it with foot sign (/)
and provide an explanation to support your answer.

Example:

Write your answer here!

A (v) theory (/) if (v) you (v) hold (/) it (v) hard (/) enough (/)
And (v) long (/) enough (v) gets (/) rated (v) as (/) a (/) creed:
Such (v) as (v) that (/) flesh (v) is (v) something (v) we (/) can (/) slough
So (v) that (v) the (v) mind (/) can (v) be (v) entirely (/) freed (v).
Then (/) when (v) the (v) arms (/) and (v) legs (/) have (v) atrophied (v),
And (v) brain (/) is (v) all (/) that’s (v) left (/) of (v) mortal (/) stuff (v),
We (v) can (/) lie (v) on (/) the (v) beach (/) with (v) the (v) seaweed (/)
And (v) take (/) our (v) daily (v) tide (/) baths (v) smooth (/) and (v) rough (/).
There (/) once (v) we (/) lay (v) as (v) blobs (/) of (v) jellyfish (/)
At (v) evolution’s (/) opposite (v) extreme (/).
But (/) now (v) as (v) blobs (/) of (/) brain (v) we’ll (/) lie (v) and (v) dream (/),
With (/) only(v) one (/) vestigial (v) creature (/) wish (v):
Oh (/), may (v) the (v) tide (/) be (v) soon (/) enough (v) at (/) high (v)
To (v) keep (/) our (/) abstract (v) verse (/) from (v) being (/) dry (v).

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Are you having fun so far? Thank you for doing the activities. If you were about to ask
where to submit your work, then let me tell you where.
You can submit your outputs in our Google Classroom. Visit our Google Classroom
and find your way to your Classwork, then click on Assignment and there you will find where
to submit your outputs. Visit the website below for your class code. If you have poor
connection, you are given another week to submit your output.

https://

rochenanrodac.blogspot.com/
You are almost done with Unit 2! Keep up the good work!

Assessment
Assessment 1 Create your meter-based poem
Directions: Create a single stanza poem using the given metrical patterns. The poem
may or may not be connected to each other, having different theme is accepted. Write
your work in the space provided.

Write your Poem here!

When I descend

Toward the brink

I stand and look Iambic
Dimeter
And stop and drink

And bathe my wings

And chink, and pink.

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I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry
Iambic
Came over houses from another street, Pentameter

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Dear Learner,

I would like you to know that the activities that you have just accomplished were
designed to make you realize these 3 important things:

 Meter will not limit your expression in poetry;

 Revisiting the classical and traditional pattern will guide you to create a better piece:
and
 Keep on making a poetic craft.

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I was right all along! There is a poet in you!

Continue to do good. I know you can!

Truly yours,

The Authors

Congratulations! You did a great job! If you have not completed the task, or you have
difficulty in accomplishing the activity, please send me a message to our Google class,
or you may ask clarifications through a text message or phone calls on the contact
number included in your course guide. You may write your insights or thoughts about the
activity on the space provided found on the next page. You had just completed this unit.
You are now ready to take Unit 7.

Write your insights and thoughts here!

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