Poetry Definitions

by Willard R. Espy from Words To Rhyme With

1.  Rhythm and Meter

      Rhythm is where poetry starts.  Rhythm is older than speech; older than sound; older than the stars themselves.  The Big Bang ushered it in.  Rhythm is the heartbeat of the universe.  In prosody, which some dictionaries describe as the science of versification, rhythm is codified as meter; the regular beat of accent, or stress.  Syllables are grouped in metrical units called feet, each a single accented syllable generally combined with one or more that are unaccented.  The way in which the feet are arranged determines the meter of a line.  It is not intended that metrical rules should be slavishly followed - rocking-horse meter is widely scorned, though it may be tolerated for whistlers-in-rhyme such as I - but a good poet knows meter in her head and feels rhythm in her blood.  If ever she violates their canons she does so deliberately, knowing exactly the purpose she is seeking to achieve.  If she disobeys the king, it is only to serve him more faithfully.  The most widely used metric feet in our poetry are:

* The iambic, an unaccented (or unstressed, or short) syllable followed by an accented
    (or stressed, or long) syllable.  (. ' : De.ny him. not.)
* The trochaic, an accented followed by an unaccented syllable
   ('  . : Ho.ly Fa.ther, bless. me).
* The anapestic, two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable
    ( . . ' : Un.re.tur.ning is Time).
* The dactylic, an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables
    ( ' . . : Al.ice is beau.ti.ful).
* The amphibrachic, an accented syllable dividing two unaccented syllables
    ( . ' . : Un.cer.tain.ly walk.ing).

     Less usual are the spondaic, with two or more accented syllable in succession ( ' ' : Fields, streams, skies I know: Death not yet), and the pyrrhic, consisting of two or more unaccented syllables - so difficult to cut away from the attending stresses syllables that I cannot think offhand of an example that clearly makes the point.  It is all but impossible to make a string of unstressed syllables; one of them will seize power.  The merest hint of a shift in emphasis can alter the beat of a line.  It can turn a trochee into an iamb (fish.wife into fish.wife) or an iamb into a trochee (in.sult into in.sult).  And it frequently does.  Once formal meter is ingrained in you, it may be helpful at times not simply to change emphasis within a line, but even to add or drop part or all of a foot.  But never take such a liberty by mistake.  The rule is, master meter, then maneuver it.

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