Metre is what gives a poem its unique rhythm.

It has two main parts:

- the number of syllables in each line
- which the syllables sound „stronger” than others.
English poetry is often called accentual-syllabic verse.

Scansion marks the metrical pattern of a poem by breaking each line of verse up into feet and highlighting
the accented and unaccented syllables.

Metrical foot - a grouping of strong and weak syllables.

In poetry, a foot is the basic unit of measurement.
Each foot is made up of one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable.

Disyllables (duple feet):

• Iamb - a weak syllable followed by a strong syllable

- guitar
- to sleep

• Trochee - a strong syllable followed by a weak syllable

- baseball
- thank you

• Spondee - a foot made of two strong syllables

• Pyrrhic - a foot made of two weak syllables

Trisyllables (triple feet):

• Anapest - two weak syllables followed by one strong syllable

- understand
- in the dark

• Dactyl - one strong syllable followed by two weak syllables

- camera
- this is a…

• Amphibrach - consists of a long syllable between two short syllables

 A poem can contain many elements to give it structure.

Rhyme is perhaps the most common of these elements: countless poetic
works contain rhymes, from limericks to epic poems to pop lyrics.
But equally important is meter, which imposes specific length and emphasis
on a given line of poetry.

Common Types of Meter in Poetry

Metrical feet are repeated over the course of a line of poetry to create a poetic meter.
We describe the length of a poetic meter by using Greek suffixes:

- one foot = monometer

- two feet = dimeter
- three feet = trimeter
- four feet = tetrameter
- five feet = pentameter
- six feet = hexameter
- seven feet = heptameter
- eight feet = octameter

Examples of Meter in Poetry

When you combine the stress patterns of specific poetic feet with specific lengths, you unlock the many
possibilities of poetic meter. A good example of this is IAMBIC PENTAMETER which can be found in
English language poetry across many centuries.

Iambic pentameter contains five iambs per line, for a total of ten syllables per line.
Every even-numbered syllable is stressed.
William Shakespeare is the most famous practitioner of iambic pentameter in the English literary canon.

Thomas Wyatt one of the early Renaissance poets in England

(born 1503, Allington, near Maidstone, Kent, England - died on October 6th, 1542, Sherborne, Dorset).

He was a poet who introduced the Italian sonnet, terza rima verse form, and the French rondeau into English
literature.

Wyatt was educated at St. John’s, Cambridge, and became a member of the court circle of Henry VIII, where
he seems to have been popular and admired for his attractive appearance, skill in music, languages, and arms.

Wyatt’s fortunes at court fluctuated, however, and his association with the Boleyn family and a rumoured
affair with Anne Boleyn likely contributed to his first arrest and imprisonment in 1536;
he was again arrested (1541) after the execution of his ally Thomas Cromwell.

During his career, he served several diplomatic missions and was knighted in 1537, but his fame rests chiefly
on his poetic achievements, particularly his songs.

His poems are unusual for their time in carrying a strong sense of individuality.

 They Flee from Me by Thomas Wyatt

The story of Sir Thomas Wyatt’s possible romantic involvement with Anne Boleyn,
the second wife of King Henry VIII is a drama all in itself.

But what is remarkable about Wyatt’s poetry - especially „They Flee from Me” - is the way he dramatises
life at court, and personal relationships, in a short poem, using language in a direct, muscular way that was
largely new in English verse.

„They Flee from Me” is one of Sir Thomas Wyatt’s best-known poems and is often reprinted in poetry
anthologies.

It’s almost a shorthand for the Tudor court and the way men and women would use others to gain an
advantage or a position, only to discard them when they had served their purpose.

Women are compared in the poem to wild birds of prey, for instance, falcons, who, although domesticated,
might go wild again.
They are also portrayed as semi-wild, unpredictable, and even dangerous.

The verse form of „They Flee from Me” is a form known as rhyme royal, rhymed ababbcc.
The metre of the poem is, for the most part, that quintessentially English metre: iambic pentameter.

We might paraphrase the meaning of „They Flee from Me” as follows:

The people who used to love spending time with me, now actively run away when they see me coming.
They used to come to my bedroom and lie with me, naked and tame and gentle; now they are like wild animals
which cannot be tamed, and it’s as if they don’t even remember that they used to put themselves in danger by
associating with me, like friendly animals eating bread from my hand.
Now they are like wild animals who roam around, seeking something new all the time.
Thankfully, in the past things were different, and twenty times better for it:
I remember once, in particular, one female associate of mine was wearing skimpy clothing after a pleasant show,
and her loose gown fell from her shoulders and she caught me in her long, slender arms, and kissed me sweetly.
It wasn’t a dream: I was wide awake. But now everything has been ruined, because I’m too nice for my own good,
and she forsakes me. I am free to let her go, and she can go with new people. But, since she has seen fit to use me
in such a way, do you think she deserves my kindness?

In the poem, the speaker laments the fact that he has fallen from favor - the women who used to "seek" him
in his "chamber" now seem to "flee" from him.

The poem is often associated with Wyatt's own biography - he is famously rumored to have had an affair
with Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's wives - but the poem more generally captures the sense of confusion,
regret, and bitterness that can come with the end of a relationship.

It also provides a great insight into the world of intrigue, suspicion, and changing fortunes that was the Tudor
court (the Tudor dynasty ruled over England for three centuries).