Emotions, Thoughts & Words

LIT 1 Poetry

Name: Hannah Mariel O. Daboda BSCE-IIIA

UNIT 6
FOOT AND METER: POEMS DO RISE AND FALL
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 ) thou ( / ) sand ( v ) ships ( v )

And ( v ) burnt ( / ) the ( v ) top ( / ) less ( v ) to ( / ) wers ( v ) of ( / ) Il ( v ) ium? ( / )
Sweet ( v ) He ( / ) len, ( v ) make ( / ) me ( v ) im ( / ) mor ( v ) tal ( / ) with ( v ) a ( / ) kiss. ( v )
Her ( v ) lips ( / ) suck ( v ) forth ( / ) my ( v ) soul: ( / ) see ( v ) where ( / ) it ( v ) flies! ( / )
Come, ( v ) He ( / ) len, ( v ) come, ( / ) give ( v ) me ( / ) my ( v ) soul ( / ) a ( v ) gain. ( / )
Here ( v ) will ( / ) I ( v ) dwell, ( / ) for ( v ) hea ( / ) ven ( v ) is ( / ) in ( v ) these ( / ) lips, ( v )
And ( v ) all ( / ) is ( v ) dross ( / ) that ( v ) is ( / ) not ( v ) He ( / ) le ( v ) na. ( / )

LEARNING ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY 1: Checking the Metrical Feet
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.

Jose Rizal Memorial State University

Emotions, Thoughts & Words
LIT 1 Poetry

Write your answer here!

Etherealizing
Robert Frost

v / v / v / v / v /
A theo- / ry if / you hold / it hard / e – nough
v / v / v / v / v /
And long / e – nough / gets ra- / ted as / a creed:
v / v / v / v / v /
Such as / that flesh / is some- / thing we / can slough
v / v / v / v / v /
So that / the mind / can be / en – tire- / ly freed.

v / v / v / v / v /
Then when / the arms / and legs / have a- / tro - phied,
v / v / v / v / v /
And brain / is all / that’s left / of mor- / tal stuff,
v / v / v / v / v /
We can / lie on / the beach / with the / sea – weed
v / v / v / v / v /
And take / our dai- / ly tide / baths smooth / and rough.
v / v / v / v / v /
There once / we lay / as blobs / of je- / lly – fish
v / v / v / v / v /
At e- / vo – lu- / tion’s o- / ppo – site / ex - treme.
v / v / v / v / v /
But now / as blobs / of brain / we’ll lie / and dream,
v / v / v / v / v /
With on / ly one / ves – ti- / gial crea- / ture wish:
v / v / v / v / v /
Oh, may / the tide / be soon / e – nough / at high
v / v / v / v / v /
To keep / our ab- / stract verse / from be- / ing dry.

Explanation:
Robert Frost uses the iambic pentameter in this poem, as indicated by the da-DUM
sound. The poem has two syllables per foot, with the first syllable being unaccented or
unstressed and the second syllable being stressed. As each line contains ten syllables,
five of which are unstressed and five of which are stressed, the pattern is a perfect
example of iambic pentameter. The fact that all the lines are five feet long is another
indication that the poem is written in pentameter.

Jose Rizal Memorial State University

Emotions, Thoughts & Words
LIT 1 Poetry

ASSESSMENT: 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!

I may not fly

In shining sky Iambic
But sure, I’ll dream Dimeter
To the extreme

And he said, if it only holds you tight Iambic

Then take and have such as the opposite
Pentameter
And I say, be with me for it feels right
My hands are small but I can hold you fit.

INSIGHTS
This was mind blowing and is more difficult than the previous unit.

Jose Rizal Memorial State University